CIHM 

Microfiche 

Series 

(IVIonographs) 


ICIVIH 

Collection  de 

microfiches 

(monographies) 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microraproductlons  /  Institut  Canadian  da  microraproductions  historiquaa 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes  /  Notes  techniques  et  bibllographiques 


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piaire qui  sent  peut-6tre  uniques  du  point  de  vue  bibii- 
ographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier  une  image  reproduite. 
ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une  nnodlfication  dans  la  mMw- 
de  normals  de  fUmaga  som  Indiqute  d-dsssous. 

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partieNement  obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une 
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obtenir  la  meilieure  image  possible. 

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possible. 


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Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  rMuction  indiqu4  ci^aoua. 


lOx 


14x 


12x 


16x 


18x   22x  26x 

I  I  I  !✓!  I  1  I  I  I  I  I 

20x  24x  aax 


30x 


32x 


Th«  copy  film»d  h«r«  hat  bMn  raproduecd  thanks  L'«x«mpiair«  film*  fut  raproduit  griea  A  la 

to  tha  sanaroaity  of:  g4n«rosit«  da: 

IbtloMi  Library  af  CmimH  BfbllotMqiM  Mtfoiwla  du  Canmto 


Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  arw  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  Icaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacif icationa. 


Original  copiaa  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  fllmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covor  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
sion.  or  tha  bacit  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
firat  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impraa- 
aien.  and  ar.Jing  on  tho  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  Illuatratad  impraaaion. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  — ^  (maaning  "CON- 
TtNUEO").  or  tha  symbol  V  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appllaa. 

Maps,  platas,  charts,  ate,  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratios.  Thosa  too  larga  to  bo 
antiraly  included  in  ona  axposura  ara  filmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  eornar.  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framas  ss 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diagrams  illustrata  tha 
mathod: 


Las  imagas  suivantas  ont  M  raproduitas  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  I'axamplaira  fllm«.  at  an 
conformity  avac  laa  condltiona  du  eontrat  da 
filmaga. 

Las  axamplairas  originaux  dont  la  couvsrtura  en 
papiar  ast  imprimaa  sont  filmas  an  commandant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarmlnant  soit  par  la 
darniira  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
dimpraaaion  ou  d'llluatratlon,  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  la  cas.  Tous  las  autras  axamplaires 
originaux  sont  filmte  an  commandant  par  la 
pramlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraaaion  ou  d'illustration  at  an  tarmlnant  par 
la  damlira  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 

Un  daa  aymboloa  suivanta  apparaftra  sur  la 
darniira  imaga  da  chaqua  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  la  symbole  — »•  signifia  "A  SUIVRE".  le 
symbola  ▼  signifio  "FIN". 

Les  cartas,  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  fttre 
filmte  A  des  taux  da  reduction  diffirants. 
Lorsqua  la  document  aat  trap  grand  pour  Atre 
raproduit  an  un  saul  cllch*.  il  est  film*  A  partir 
de  I'sngle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  i  droita. 
at  de  haut  en  bas.  en  prenant  la  nombre 
d'imagas  nicassaira.  Laa  diagrammaa  suivants 
iilustrant  la  mithoda. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION 
IN  TEACHING 


^  / 

JOHN  ADAlisyM.AM  B.Sc. 

or  EDUCATION  IN  ram  umrBMiTT 
or  tJ^Dom 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1910 


LB/0 
Asa 


233828 


Corrmiaar,  ItlO, 
Bt  TBS  MACMIUAN  OOMPAVT. 


J.  B.  OMUi«  Co. — Bwwtt  *  Sattk  Ok 


I.  Hatcm  amp  Soon  cv  ■iwwwiwi  ato  lLuninA> 

nom   1 

n.  Mbvtai.  Coarnorr   if 

III.  MnrTAi,  Aiiinmr,  M 

lY.  Mkmtai.  Bacbowhivm   M 

v.  Sdoomtiov   .........  lli 

yi.  CoHDinon  OF  PMnnrrAiMMi   14G 

yn.  BEoiimnios  nr  ExroMmnr   187 

yni.  Order  or  Prrssmtatiov    ......  187 

IX.  ExKMFLiricATioir  AMD  Amaloot  .....  SS8 

X.  The  Stort  as  Iixustbatiom     .      .           .      .  S80 

XI.   Elaboration   97S 

XII.  Deorrr  im  Illubtratiov   SIT 

Xni.  Material  Illcstratk    *t7 

XIY.   Tbb  Picture  as  iLLUSTRAriov   889 

XT.   The  Diagram  as  Illcstratiov   864 

XYI.  Davokrs  of  Illvstratioh   891 

Xyn.  Tbr  Tobfboo  Shock   416 


EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTBATION 
IN  TEACHING 


CHAPTER  I 

NATcm  AND  Scon  of  ExposmoN  and 
Illvbtbation 

Appltinq  ilM  princii^  to  be  h&i  dofwn  in  wbst  fol- 
k>ws,  it  is  well  to  make  a  beginning  in  some  region  of 
knowledge  that  is  common  to  all  intelligent  educated 
people.  A  good  dictionary  may  be  fairly  taken  to 
represent  such  a  region.  What  the  dictionary  tells  us 
about  Exposition  and  lUusfcration  will  probably  be 
admitted  to  be  eommon  i»oper^,  and  therefore  a  suit- 
able starting-point  for  a  treatment  that  will  introduce 
points  of  view  that  may  be  unfamiliar  to  the  reader.  In 
teaching,  it  is  now  generally  admitted  that  we  ought 
rather  to  lead  up  to  a  definition  than  to  start  from  one. 
In  what  follows,  tiie  definitbns  as  found  in  the  dietion- 
aiy  wiU  not  be  treated  as  ends  in  themselves,  but  merely 
as  the  common  basis  from  which  reader  and  writer  may 
make  an  intelligible  start.  This  chapter  will  concern 
itself  not  so  much  with  the  explanation  of  the  defini- 
tions which  it  borrows  from  the  dictumary  aa  with  the 
elidwratiott  of  the  connotation  of  the  Uam»  Eiposltkin 
and  Illustration  in  their  relation  to  teaching. 

In  Sir  James  A.  H.  Murray's  "New  English  Diotim- 

a  1 


2     EXPOSITION  Am)  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

ary  on  Historical  Principles"  we  find  under  the  word 
expound,  the  following  meanings:  — 

1.  To  set  forth,  declare,  state  in  detail  (doctrines,  ideas,  principles ; 

formerly  used  with  wider  application). 

2.  To  explain,  interpret : 

(a)  gen.  To  explain  (what  is  difficult  or  obscure) ;  to  state 
the  signification  of ;  to  comment  on  (a  passage  or  an  author) . 

(6)  Mp.  To  interpret,  comment  upon  (Scripture,  religious 
formularies,  etc.).  Now  chiefly  with  reference  to  homiletic 
exposition. 

We  may  safely  neglect  the  more  literal  meanings 
attached  to  exposition,  such  as  "putting  out  of,"  "ex- 
posure," "putting  to  public  view";  just  as  we  need  not 
seriously  consider  the  archaic  use  in  Hudibraa:  "He 
expounded  both  his  pockets,"  or  Littr^'s  "putting  in 
the  pillory."  So  far  as  the  teacher  is  concerned,  two  of 
the  accepted  meanings  stand  out  as  of  importance:  "to 
set  forth"  and  "to  explain  or  interpret."  In  the  ordi- 
nary practice  of  the  schoolroom  these  two  meanings  are 
not  usually  distinguished  from  each  other,  because,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  purpose  of  setting  forth  anything  is 
to  explain  it  to  the  pupil.  If  we  set  a  matter  clearly 
before  another,  we  feel  that  we  have  explained  it.  If 
to  a  wayfarer  we  set  forth  his  route,  we  feel  that  we  have 
plained  a  matter  about  which  he  was  in  doubt.  A 
clear  statement  of  the  Binomial  Theorem  is  generally 
regarded  as  in  some  sort  an  explanation  of  that  theorem. 
There  are  those  who  question  whether  the  teacher  can 
under  any  circumstances  do  more  than  make  just  such 
a  presentation.  Jacotot,  the  founder  of  the  "  Universal 
MeUiod"  of  teaching,  is  usually  true  to  his  reiterated 
priiusiple  that  "a  teacher  is  never  neceanyry  to  man,"  * 
» EnteigntnMiU  Unimnd,  p.  804. 


NATUBB  AND  800PB 


8 


but  in  a  moment  of  unusual  generosity  he  admits  that 
"a  teaeher  is  useful  to  men,  he  is  necessary  to  ehildren, 
but  a  teacher  who  explains  [un  mattre  expUcateur]  is 
deadening  [abrtUissant]."  ^  The  negativeness  of  the 
teacher's  work  from  this  point  of  view  is  obvious.  In 
the  words  of  one  of  Jacotot's  editors:  "In  fact,  the 
Founder  limits  himself  to  saying:  'Here  is  a  book; 
learn  Latin.' " 

But  while  the  two  meanings  of  Exposition  —  setting 
forth  and  explaining  —  to  a  certain  extent  overlap, 
they  imply  a  real  distinction  that  is  worth  the  teacher's 
attention.  While  we  are  mainly  interested  in  discover- 
ing how  to  presoit  certain  matters  in  the  way  best 
suited  to  T&adex  them  intelligible  to  the  pupil,  we  are 
none  the  less  setting  them  forth.  The  first  meaning  of 
Exposition,  in  fact,  implies  the  presentation  of  new 
matter,  the  second  the  explanation  or  interpretation  of 
matter  already  known  to,  but  not  yet  fully  understood 
by,  the  pupil.  Hie  first  meaning,  "setting  fortii," 
corresponds  to  what  is  usually  understood  in  school 
and  college  by  the  verb  demonstrate.  This  word,  which 
literally  means  to  show  or  point  out,  has  acquired  the 
added  connotation  of  "for  a  piupose."  A  demon- 
strate in  a  college  is  not  a  man  ^o  pcnnts  out  mer^, 
but  one  who  diows  the  meaning  of  what  he  pcnnts  out. 
As  the  dictionary  has  it,  he  "exhibits  and  explains." 
Still,  the  fact  remains  that  in  both  the  first  meaning  of 
expound  and  in  the  general  meaning  of  demonatrate 
there  is  the  notion  of  supplying  new  matter,  so  that  this 
presentation  of  new  matter  may  be  regarded  as  an  es- 
sential part  of  Exposition,  though  it  need  not  be  found 
at  all  stages  of  Exposition.  We  shall  see  when  we  come 
*  AvMitrprqyw  <te  oette  Qwtri to«  felition ;  D$laLa$igmmal$rntlh. 


4     EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

to  deal  with  Illustration  that  the  same  distinction  arises 
between  the  introduction  of  new  matter  and  the  manip- 
ulation of  old. 

It  has  to  be  observed  that  for  our  present  purpose  we 
are  treating  the  subject  of  Exposition  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  teacher.  It  is  possible  to  regard  it  entirely 
from  the  pupil's  standpoint.  When  this  is  done,  Ex- 
position is  dealt  with  as  a  part  of  composition,  and 
ranks  as  coordinate  with  narration  and  description. 
As  such  it  enters  into  the  ordinary  school  curriculum, 
and  in  many  cases  receives  a  considerable  amount  of 
attention.  Naturally  the  principles  of  Exposition  must 
remain  the  same  whether  practised  by  the  pupil  or  by 
the  t^her,  but  the  conditions  under  which  the  prind^ 
pies  are  applied  in  the  two  cases  are  so  different  that  a 
Mparate  treatise  is  required  for  each.* 

It  will  be  noted  ;hat  the  dictionary  lays  stress  on  the 
fact  that  the  things  to  be  set  forth  are  "doctrines,  ideas, 
principles,"  the  obvious  inf^nce  bdng  that  Exposition 
has  nothii^  to  do  with  material  things,  that  we  can  no 
more  expound  a  steam  engine  than  we  can  expound  our 
pockets.  But  while  it  is  bad  English  to  speak  of  ex- 
pounding a  locomotive,  we  may  correctly  speak  of 
expoimding  the  principles  on  which  the  locomotive 
works.  This  does  not,  after  all,  mean  that  the  concrete 
is  removed  from  the  realm  of  Exposition,  but  merely 
that  Exposition  can  deal  v"th  the  concrete  only  in  terms 
of  ideas.  The  contributions  of  the  senses  must  be 
taken  for  granted  by  the  expositor.  His  business  is  so 
to  arrange  the  mental  results  of  sensations  that  they 

*  For  a  treatment  of  the  subject  as  a  part  of  the  curriculum,  see 
Expo*iiion  in  CUutroom  Praetiet,  hy  MitehUl  uid  Gurpenter,  the  Mm- 
milbui  Co.,  New  York.  190S. 


NATUBB  AND  8C0PB 


6 


shall  form  a  well-organised  and  tnerefore  intdli^ble 
whole.  From  this  point  of  view  all  Expositioii  is 
explanation  or  interpretation,  though  in  order  to  com- 
plete the  explanation  it  may  be  necessary  to  place  the 
pupil  in  such  a  position  that  new  mp.tior  may  be  as- 
similated. Sometimes  the  expositor  can  so  arrange  old 
matter  that  it  becomes  inteUigible  without  the  intro- 
duction of  anything  new,  but  frequently  it  happens 
that  in  the  pupil's  knowledge  there  is  some  link  lack- 
ing, without  which  all  the  present  material  is  necessa- 
rily unintelligible.  To  mtioJuce  the  missing  elemen-d 
is  clearly  an  essential  part  of  Exposition.  I  have 
known  a  man  who  had  a  really  excellwit  knowledge 
of  French  completely  puzzled  by  a  passage  that  pre- 
sented no  apparent  difficulty.  He  could  make  no  s^nse 
out  of  it  because  he  did  not  happen  to  know  that 
Monsieur,  w'uen  used  absolutely,  meant  the  eldest 
brother  of  the  king  of  France. 

It  18  worth  ranarking  that  in  this  oonnectkm"  ex- 
planation" has  no  reference  to  the  ultimate  mcamng 
of  the  matter  to  be  dealt  with.  It  55  not  a  metaphysical 
term.  Accordingly,  from  the  teacher'a  point  of  view. 
Exposition  does  not  include  the  discovery  of  the  true 
meanmg  of  the  matter  to  be  <!xpounded,  but  only  the 
setting  forth  of  that  matter  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  in- 
telligible to  the  pupil.  The  facts  and  the  explanation 
of  the  facts  are  for  the  teacher  the  data  of  Exposition. 
He  may  be  misinformed  about  the  materials  he  is  deal- 
ing with,  his  facts  may  not  be  facts,  his  explanatious 
of  his  facts  may  not  stand  the  test  of  mvestigatioa, 
and  yet  his  exposition  may  be  excellent.  As  an  ex- 
positor his  business  is  so  to  present  his  facts  that  they 
ahull  carry  with  them  the  e3q;)lanation  that  appeals  to 


6     EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINO 


him  as  satisfactory.  Too  often  it  has  been  assumed 
that  an  intelligent  mastery  of  the  facts  to  be  presented 
is  enough  to  qualify  a  teaohor  for  his  work.*  In  r^ty 

it  is  no  more  than  the  essential  condition  of  his  b^pn- 
ning  to  learn  to  apply  his  art.  For  our  present  purpose 
we  shall  assume  that  the  teache/  has  acquired  the 
necessary  facts  and  has  mastered  their  meaning.  The 
problem  remains  to  communicate  these  facts  so  that 
they  shall  convey  to  the  pupil  the  meaning  the  teacher 
has  accepted  as  the  true  one. 

The  teacher  may  uot  only  adopt  a  wrong  interpre- 
tation of  the  facts,  but  may  know  that  his  interpreta^ 
tion  is  false,  and  yet  be  an  excellent  expositor.  Pro- 
fessor J.  W.  AJUea  *  provides  an  admirable  illustration. 
Taking  the  R^ormation  as  subject,  he  gives  three  sep- 
arate expositions  of  its  meaning,  one  from  the  Roman 
Catholic  point  of  view,  another  from  the  Protestant, 
whUe  the  third  is  written  from  the  standpoint  of  a 
critical  Mercutio  who  calls  for  "a  plague  o'  both  your 
houses."  By  appropriate  ovoremphasis  and  com- 
pression, each  of  the  accounts,  while  not  inventing 
incidents  or  what  are  commonly  called  "facts,"  con- 
trives to  convey  an  entirely  different  impression  from 
the  others.  So  far  as  each  is  successful,  it  leaves  the 
mind  of  the  p'ipil  with  his  ideas  of  the  Reformation 
reconstructed  in  a  particular  way,  a  way  that  was  first 
developed  in  the  mind  of  the  expositor,  though,  as 
we  see,  he  has  adopted  at  least  two  other  modes  of 
reconstructing  the  available  elements. 

'  Cf .  Do  Quincey :  "  The  r6  doeendum,  the  thing  to  be  taught,  has 
availed  to  obscure  or  even  to  annihilate  for  their  eyes  every  anxiety 
as  to  the  mode  of  teaching."  Etaay  on  Style.  Collected  Writingi 
(Masson,  1897),  Vol.  II,  p.  160. 

*  Tk* PimettfUUlary  in  EdueuUm,  1900, p.  210. 


NATX7RE  AND  SCOPE 


7 


The  test  of  the  eiqxmtor  is:  does  he  produce  on 
the  mmd  of  the  pupil  the  impression  he  desires  to  pro- 
duce ?  Literary  style  is  sometimes  tested  by  the  clear- 
ness with  which  it  conveys  the  author's  meaning.  But 
sometimes  the  author  may  not  desire  that  his  mean- 
ing should  be  understood.  He  may  want  his  words  to 
oonv^  one  meaning  to  one  set  of  readers  and  another 
to  another.  From  this  point  of  view  the  test  is:  does 
he  convey  the  meaning  to  each  that  he  intended  to 
convey  ?  Style  is  not  so  much  a  means  of  making  an- 
other know  what  we  think,  as  it  is  a  means  of  producing 
a  certain  effect  upon  the  mind  of  another.  So  in  the 
case  of  the  expositor,  whether  he  be  honest  ordidionest, 
the  result  of  successful  exposition  must  be  that  there 
now  exists  in  the  mind  of  the  hearer  or  reader  a  com- 
bination of  mental  elements  that  previously  existed  in 
the  mind  of  the  expositor.  There  may  be  many  other 
w&ya  in  which  tiie  elonents  could  be  combined,  and 
these  possible  combinations  may  all  Lave  been  formed 
at  one  time  or  other  in  the  mind  of  the  expositor,  but 
if  he  has  succeeded  in  his  present  work,  only  one  of  these 
combinations  is  able  to  establish  itself  in  the  mind  of 
the  person  he  is  dealing  with.  Exposition,  therefore, 
comes  to  be,  in  tiie  ultunate  reswt,  the  manipulation , 
of  the  ideas  of  another. 

This  gives  a  more  definite  meaning  to  the  term  ex- 
planation as  used  by  the  teacher.  Some  people  do  not 
see  how  things  can  be  explained.  They  admit  the  ad- 
vantage of  statemoit  and  d^onstration,  but  cannot 
see  how  something  that  has  been  stated  and  d^on- 
strated  can  be  made  clearer  by  writing  or  talking  about 
it.  They  quote  the  case  of  the  little  girl  who  has  won 
the  good-will  of  all  the  teachers'  commca  rooms  in  the 


8     EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


world  by  her  protest  that  she  thought  she  could  under^ 
stand  her  arithmetic  if  only  her  mother  would  give 
up  explaining  it.*  In  his  Modem  Painten,  Ruskin 
tells  us  bluntly:  "Explanations  are  wasted  time.  A 
man  who  can  see,  understands  a  touch;  a  man  who 
cannot,  misunderstands  an  oration."   The  contrast 
between  a  touch  and  an  oration  is  not  very  happy,  as 
it  might  be  held  to  unply  a  comparison  between  two 
different  kinds  of  explanation  —  practical  and  verbal. 
But  even  if  we  limit  the  contrast  to  the  cognate  terms, 
a  ward  and  an  oration,  we  have  still  the  implied  admis- 
sion that  the  w&rd  has  done  some  good.   In  actual  ex- 
perience it  is  often  found  that  only  a  word  is  needed  to 
establish  the  proper  relation  among  a  group  of  ideas  that 
need  nothing  but  the  help  of  this  word  to  reduce  them- 
selves to  a  combination  mtelligible  to  a  person  who 
otherwise  is  unable  to  imderstand  them.   It  is  quite 
possible  for  a  man  to  have  in  his  mind  all  the  facts 
necessary  to  explam  somethmg  that  he  does  not  under- 
stand, and  yet  be  quite  unable  to  make  the  necessary 
application  of  his  knowledge'.   The  facts  must  be  put 
in  a  certain  order  before  the  true  relation  can  be  seen, 
and  it  is  the  busmess  of  the  expositor,  by  means  of 
words  or  otherwise,  to  arrange  them  in  this  order. 

One  of  the  great  difficulties  at  certain  examinations 
is  to  keep  candidates  from  getting  just  this  kind  of 
help  from  each  other.  A  difficult  problem  in  Perspec- 
tive or  in  Orthographic  Projection  often  becomes  quite 
easy  to  a  candidate  from  a  smgle  glance  at  his  ndgh- 

>  In  his  Charles  Dickens,  Mr.  G.  K.  Chesterton  aaya :  Dickens  "had 
one  most  unfortunate  habit,  a  habit  that  often  put  him  in  the  wrong, 
even  when  he  happened  to  be  in  the  ri|^t.  Be  l»d  »&  inearaUe 
habit  of  eatplainiag  liimaelf." 


NATURE  AND  SOOPB 


9 


hour's  completed  drawing,  though  without  that  glance 
he  could  make  no  sense  out  of  the  inoblem  as  stated  in 
words  on  his  racamination  paper.  He  has  all  the  knowl- 
edge needed  to  work  out  the  problem,  but  he  lacks  the 
power  of  making  the  initial  combination.  At  a  certain 
examination  in  Applied  Mathematics  an  industrious 
but  not  very  original  studrait  found  herself  unable  to 
understand  a  particular  question  on  her  paper  till  she 
cuanced  to  see  a  fellow-candidate  twirling  her  finger  in 
a  particular  way.  The  motion  of  the  finger  at  once 
suggested  the  idea  of  a  left-handed  heUx,  and  the  point 
of  the  question  became  plain.  Both  candidates  hap- 
pened to  be  considoing  the  same  problon  at  the  time, 
but  there  was  no  mtentional  signalling.  The  clever 
candidate  did  not  know  that  she  had  helped  the  other. 
It  has  to  be  remembered  that  unless  the  duller  student 
had  had  the  necessary  materials  in  her  mind,  no  amount 
of  finger-twirling  would  have  been  of  the  sli^test  use 
to  her. 

In  a  similar  way  an  unintelligent  plumber  has  often 
in  his  mind  all  the  facts  that  are  necessary  to  the  mas- 
tery of  a  difScult  job  in  a  house,  and  is  yet  unable  to 
apply  his  knowledge.  The  householder  makes  several 
suggestions,  most  of  them  futile,  but  happens  to  hit 
upon  one  combination  that  appeals  to  the  practical 
but  unintelligent  workman,  who  then  exclaims,  "Ah, 
now  that  you  put  it  that  way—,"  and  proceeds  to 
carry  out  a  suggestion  that  he  could  not  originate.  In 
a  certain  sense  the  ignorant  housdiolder  has  explained 
matters  to  the  plumber.  What  the  householder  has 
done  more  or  less  by  chance,  the  ddlfui  expositor  must 
do  deliberately. 

Exposition  may  well  be  described,  as  a  bipolar  pro- 


10  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHINO 

cess.  For  our  own  endi  we  may  regard  it  now  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  expositor,  and  now  from  thftt 

of  the  person  to  whom  something  is  being  expounded. 
But  the  process  is  working  from  both  sides  all  the  time. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  the  present  moment 
psychologists  are  feeling  ke«ily  the  need  for  double 
terms  in  the  case  of  sunilar  bipolar  proceeeee.*  In 
suggestion  and  imitation,  for  example,  we  have  the 
two  poles  of  the  process  and  a  term  to  describe  only  one 
of  them.  Suggester  and  imitator  are  words  that  stand 
for  the  persons  who  suggest  or  imitate;  but  we  have  no 
terms  to  denote  those  who  are  imitated  or  to  whom 
suggestion  is  made.  In  the  books  we  find  rather  clumey 
references  to  the  subject,  the  patient,  the  pattern,  the 
model.  Sometimes  it  is  proposed  to  follow  certain 
analogies  and  boldly  introduce  the  two  terms,  suggestee 
and  imUaiee.  But  apart  from  the  barbarous  sound  of 
expoaitee  or  expoaitatee,  there  is  the  soious  objection 
that  this  form  overemphasises  the  passive  element. 
The  person  to  whom  an  exposition  is  being  made  is  to 
a  certain  extent  mor'»  passive  than  is  the  expositor, 
but  he  is  far  from  bein^  quite  passive.  He  is  guided  by 
the  expositor,  and  to  that  extent  plays  a  passive  part, 
but  if  the  »q)osition  is  to  be  successful,  the  person  to 
whom  the  expositor  appeals  must  bestir  himself,  and 
react  vigorously  on  the  material  supplied  by  the  ex- 
positor. 

In  what  follows  we  shall  have  to  make  constant 
reference  to  "the  person  to  whom  the  expodtion  is  to 
be  made,"  and  it  is  obvious  that  this  cumbrous  peri- 
phrasis cannot  be  repeated  on  every  occasion.  So 
with  "the  matter  to  be  expounded."  In  both  cases 

»  Cf.  Mr.  W.  Macdougall's  Social  Psychology,  p.  325. 


NATURE  AND  80OFB 


11 


we  require  a  teehnioal  term.  Unth  regard  to  tlieinfttter 

to  be  expounded,  we  seem  to  have  a  word  to  our  hand. 
Sheltering  under  the  authority  of  De  Quincey's  use  of 
TO  doc^ndum,  the  thing  to  be  taught,  we  would  sug* 
gest  the  term  expositandum,  the  thing  to  be  expounded. 
By  dropping  the  Greek  to  we  render  the  term  a  littlt 
less  formidable,  and  loee  nothing  in  tlM  way  of  aeeuraey. 
We  have  seen  that  no  such  convenient  term  ■uggesti 
itself  for  the  person  to  whom  the  exposition  is  to  be  made. 
Probably  it  will  be  best  to  retain  the  ordinary  word 
pupil.  To  be  sure,  the  word  is  not  commonly  applied 
to  a  person  who  has  left  lehool,  and  we  muet  in  these 
pages  apply  it  on  occasion  to  people  of  quite  mature 
years  and  high  attainments;  but  no  confusion  need 
arise  if  we  clearly  understand  that  by  pupil  we«  shall 
in  this  book  indicate  the  person  who  in  the  process  of 
Exposition  occupies  the  pole  that  is  the  correlate  of  the 
expositor-pole.  After  all,  a  l^umed  professor  receiv- 
ing instruction  from  a  street  urchin  how  to  find  his 
way  back  to  his  hotel  is,  for  the  time  being,  a  pupil. 

Our  first  business  in  preparing  this  ordinary  term 
pupU  for  our  use  is  to  get  rid  of  the  lingering  notion  that 
it  represents  a  purely  passive  side  of  tiie  process  of 
learning.  It  connotes  rather  that  the  person  is  being 
directed  in  his  activities  than  that  he  ceases  to  be  active. 
We  are  prone  to  i*egard  listening  as  in  itself  a  passive 
matter.  The  audience  is  conspicuously  passive,  while 
the  lecturer  or  preacher  is  as  conspicuously  active. 
Preaching  has,  in  fact,  been  defined  as  "an  animated 
dialogue  with  one  part  left  out."  But  this  part  that 
is  left  out  as  spoken  word  must  certainly  be  supplied 
as  inner  thought  all  through  the  sermon;  else  the 
preaching  is  a  complete  failure.   The  difference  be- 


12   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  W  TfiACHINO 

tween  teaehing  and  keturing  Um  juafc  hen.  No  fault 

is  more  common  among  inexperienced  teachers  than  the 
tendency  to  do  all  the  talking,  and  to  treat  the  pupils 
as  mere  Bleeping  partners  in  the  work  of  the  class. 
I' Too  much  of  a  lecture"  is  the  hardest  worked  clichi 
in  the  Normal  master's  repertory  of  eritieal  phrases.' 
In  class  work  the  one  part  must  not  be  left  out.  There 
must  be  give  and  take;  the  pupils  must  be  allowed  not 
only  to  be  active,  but  to  show  their  activity.  In 
position  the  teacher  may  work  either  by  the  way  of 
opea  dialectic,  the  rapid  interchange  of  question  and 
answer,  or  by  the  more  sedate  methods  of  the  lecture. 
The  important  point  to  note  is  that  the  pupil  must  be 
equally  active  in  either  case.  The  psychology  of  listen- 
ing has  not  been  sufficiently  considered  by  teachers. 

To  hegta  with,  we  are  hiclined  to  regard  listening  as 
more  continuous  than  it  really  is.  Psychologists  are 
laying  more  and  more  stress  on  the  rhythmic  element 
in  the  phenomena  in  which  thoy  are  mterested.  No- 
where is  this  rhythmic  element  more  prominent  than 
in  listening,  especially  when  long  periods  are  considered. 
Trained  listeners,  such  as  students  who  have  reached 
the  postgraduate  stage,  are  able  to  listen  with  a  fair 
degree  of  continuity  throughout  an  hour's  discourse; 

•  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  England  the  inevitable  reaction 
has  come.  So  thoroughly  have  studenta  in  training  been  drilled  into 
a  distrust  of  lecturing  that  they  are  now  laid  to  be  lodng  the  power  of 
sustained  speech.  "  Few  of  our  recently  trained  teachers,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Mark  Wright,  "  can  make  a  well-arranged  verbal  presentation  to 
a  class  for  ten  minutes,  without  asking  questions."  Itwouid  certainly 
be  a  pity  if  teachers  lost  the  power  of  consecutive  presentation,  but 
of  the  two  the  !o!w  of  this  power  of  lecturing  would  be  much  less  seri- 
ous than  the  less  of  the  power  of  conducting  class  work  on  the  lines 
of  a  vigorous  dialectic.  Fo. .  nately,  in  America,  there  is  little  danger 
of  the  loss  of  sustained  speech. 


ITATUBB  AMD  lOOPB 


18 


but  your  ordinary  amateur  listener,  say  the  man  who 
oonfinet  himaelf  to  a  Mrmon  a  w«ek  and  an  oeeaakmal 
popular  leeture,k«an  only  in  patches.  Salient  points  in 

the  discourse  stand  out,  but  each  of  these  is  a  point  d 
departure  for  trains  of  thought  not  bargained  for  by  the 
speaker.  The  untrained  listener  rushes  off  from  each 
salient  point  —  and  often  from  points  that  are  not  at 
an  aalient  from  the  speaker's  point  of  view  —  in  a 
direction  determined  by  the  acquired  content  oi  his 
own  mind,  and  he  is  recalled  only  by  the  emergence  of 
another  point  in  the  lecture  that  catches  his  wandering 
attention. 

Fortunately,  what  is  true  in  interstitial  viskm  ia  true 
here.  Just  as  the  mind  fills  in  a  great  many  of  the  gape 
that  occur  in  actual  vision,  so  it  fills  in  a  great  many 
gaps  that  occur  in  the  hearing  of  a  discourse.  Even 
dull  people  who  are  in  earnest  about  the  sermon  go 
away  with  some  fairly  complete  general  idea  of  the 
wbxAb  (it  is  taken  for  granted  that  there  is  a  gmeral 
idea  underlying  the  whole),  but  in  many  ca'-es,  no  doubt, 
even  after  honest  attention,  the  inexperien  d  listener 
goes  away  with  only  one  or  two  prominent  points,  which 
are  not  by  any  means  necessarily  points  in  the  main 
line  of  thought,  but  are  more  likdy  to  be  prominent 
points  of  illustration. 

A  tnuning  in  the  art  of  listening  is  ther^ore  an  im- 
portant part  of  Exposition.  Unless  the  expositor  can 
assure  himself  that  his  pupils  are  doing  their  share  of  the 
work,  he  must  be  very  doubtful  about  his  success.  In 
cla8»>t^hii^  he  will,  of  Murse,  seiBe  every  opportunity 
of  making  the  pupils  take  an  overt  share  in  the  work; 
but  in  the  case  of  a  more  or  less  formal  lecture  this  is 
difficult,  sometimes,  indeed,  impossible;  so  the  lecturer 


14    EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


must  do  what  he  can  to  encourage  the  pupils  to  test 
their  powers  of  continuous  attention.  An  excellent 
test  that  they  can  themselves  apply  is  to  see  how  far 
they  can  anticipate  what  is  coming.  Certain  lecturers 
resent  such  a  i.;st.  I  have  known  one  quite  lose  his 
temper  when  this  matter  was  brought  before  him.  He 
did  not  put  it  that  way,  but  his  view  obviously  was  that 
nobody  could  anticipate  what  he  was  going  to  say  in 
any  of  his  lectures.  But  the  test  implies  no  challenge 
of  the  lecturer's  originality.  No  doubt  at  the  very 
beginning  of  an  isolated  lecture  by  an  unknown  person, 
one  cannot  usually  anticipate  what  is  coming,  and, 
fvu  ther,  at  many  points  in  the  lecture  one  may  be  quite 
unable  to  guess  what  is  coming  next.  But  in  an  ordi- 
nary lecture  or  sermon  the  experienced  listener  is  gen- 
erally able  to  anticipate  a  great  deal  of  what  is  com- 
ing. When  a  halting  speaker  hesitates  for  a  word, 
there  are  usually  scores  of  his  hearers  who  have  already 
supplied  it. 

What  the  peychologist  points  out  to  us  in  our  ordi- 
nary reading  of  a  book  or  newspaper  is  true  in  our  listen- 
ing. In  almost  every  case  the  incidence  of  attention 
is  not  on  the  word  that  occupies  the  centre  of  the  field 
of  ^asion.'  So  in  music  we  are  familiar  with  the  fact 
that  the  performer's  eye  is  frequently  bars  ahead  of 
the  note  he  is  actually  strikii^,  and  in  certain  familiar 
combinations  the  conclusion  of  a  passage  seems  to  come 
of  its  own  accord,  even  when  the  notes  are  not  seen  at 

*  Dealing  with  reading  aloud,  Mr.  E.  V.  Lucas,  in  The  Author  for 
July,  1909,  writes  the  suggestive  words:  "Lacking  the  needful  power 
of  sf^eing  two  lines  ahead  (as  John  Roberta  vsed  to  see  two  cannons 
ahead),  I  am  continually  falling  into  wrrng  stresses  and  misunder- 
standiiics,  which  annoy  me  like  little  sttncs." 


NATURE  AND  SCOPE 


15 


all;  that  is  to  say,  certain  common endinp  win  be  played 
quite  naturally  by  the  performer,  even  if  the  notes  oc-  • 
cur  on  the  page  that  has  not  yet  been  exposed.  We  are 
too  apt  to  assume  that  our  reading  and  our  listening 
are  matters  of  word  by  word  imderstanding.  Our 
thinking  is  not  carried  on  in  this  atomistic  way.  We 
work  with  much  bigger  units  than  the  mdividual  word 
or  sound.  We  can  never  know  the  present  except  in 
relation  to  the  past  and  the  future.  In  the  stream 
of  thoughts  that  pass  through  our  minds  the  present 
thought  is  the  darkest  in  the  whole  series :  — 

"The  knowledge  ot  some  other  part  of  the  stream,  past  or  future, 
near  or  remote,  b  always  mixed  in  wiUi  our  knowledge  of  the 
present  ttuog."* 

When  Shakespeare  and  Shelley  agree  in  sdecting  as 
man's  high  prerogative  the  power  of  "looking  before 

and  after,"  they  are  building  on  a  sound  psychological 
foundation.  The  present  can  be  understood  only  by 
reference  to  the  past  and  the  future. 

In  listenmg,  the  pupil  should  always  be  using  the  past 
to  anticipate  the  future.  The  beginning  and  ending 
of  good  listening  is  anticipation  —  being  able  to  project 
ourselves  towards  the  point  up  to  which  the  lecturer 
is  leading.  We  may  not  be  able  to  anticipate  the  lec- 
turer sentence  by  sentence.  It  may  be  that  we  are 
unable  to  complete  such  a  sentence  as  "The  most  op- 
timistic writer  on  Education  is  Here  it  is  prob- 
able that  very  few  could  add  the  missing  word  in  the 
sentence  as  it  thus  occurs  out  of  the  blue.  But  sup- 
pose this  sentence  occurs  in  the  middle  of  a  lecture,  a 
good  lecture  —  that  is,  a  lecture  that  has  been  thoui^t 


»  W.  Barnes:  Prineiflu  qf  Ptydulogy,  Vol.  I,  p.  606. 


16   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINQ 

out  and  organised  —  th«e  would  have  been  in  all 

probability  indications  by  the  help  of,  which  an  exp^ 
rienced  listener  could  infer  at  least  the  category  under 
which  the  individual  name  is  to  be  found.  So  far  from 
bemg  a  reflection  on  the  lecturer's  originality,  it  is  the 
highest  compliment  to  him  that  his  audience  should 
be  able  to  anticipate,  within  limits,  what  is  coming. 
It  is  your  careless,  unprepared,  unmethodical  man  who 
says  the  unexpected  things.  For  remember,  even  with 
a  professional  dealer  in  paradoxes,  it  is  quite  possible, 
by  the  rule  of  contraries,  or  in  extreme  cases,  when  that 
rule  fails,  by  the  rule  of  contra-contraries,  to  anticipate 
what  he  is  going  to  say.  In  other  words,  an  organised 
lecture  has  a  style  underlying  it  that  is  all  in  the  whole 
and  all  in  every  part,  and  that  style  can  be  surprised 
by  a  sympathetic  listener.  A  merely  capricious  lecture, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  nothing  by  which  its  develop- 
ment may  be  followed. 

Note  further  that  the  essential  thmg  is  not  so  much 
that  the  pupil  is  to  be  able  to  anticipate  the  very  points 
to  be  raised,  and  how  they  will  be  settled,  as  that  he 
must  adopt  the  anticipative  attitude.  The  pupil- 
mmd  must  be  feeling  its  own  way  into  the  problems 
that  are  being  dealt  with,  and  must  keep  on  asking 
itself  questions  about  the  possibilities  of  the  case. 
It  may  be  thought  that  this  stretching  out  of  the  mind 
towards  what  is  to  come  will  render  it  oblivious  to  what 
has  gone  before,  that  it  wiB  be  .«>  busy  with  the  future 
as  to  lose  sight  of  the  past.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  only 
by  relying  upon  the  past  that  the  mind  has  any  chance 
of  anticipating  the  future.  The  really  active  mind  is 
playing  all  round  the  subject  it  is  examining,  and  from 
what  has  been  ahready  presented,  it  gets  all  manner  of 


NATUBE  AND  SCOPE 


17 


impulses  urging  it  to  make  tentative  advances  in  this 
direction  and  in  that.  Each  advance  is  not  only  sag> 
gested  by  what  has  gone  before,  but  must  be  tested 
by  its  consistency  with  the  facts  that  have  suggested  it. 

Assuming  that  the  ultimate  purpose  of  Exposition 
is  to  cause  to  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  a  combina- 
tion of  ideas  exactly  correspondiz^  to  a  combination 
ahready  formed  m  the  mind  of  the  expositor,  it  is  dearly 
of  the  first  importance  to  find  out  what  means  are  at 
our  disposal  to  bring  about  this  com'  'nation  in  the 
pupil's  mind.  This  demands  a  study  of  the  nature  of 
ideas  and  the  laws  according  to  which  they  act.  But 
before  entering  upon  details,  it  is  wdl  to  get  a  general 
view  of  the  whole  ground.  In  ordinary  language  we 
use  the  word  Illustration  as  meaning  the  clearing  up 
of  something  that  is  in  itself  obscure.  This  idea  we 
found  to  underlie  also  the  meaning  of  Exposition.  In 
point  of  fact,  thore  is  a  certain  confusicm  in  the  popular 
use  of  these  two  tarns,  a  ccmfudon  that  has  a  good  deal 
to  justify  it  in  the  usage  of  capable  writers.  Appealing, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  term  Exposition,  to  the  disinterested 
verdict  of  the  dictionary,  and,  in  ord>n  oo  widen  our 
outlook,  selecting  an  American  lexicographer,  we  find 
that  Webster  thus  deUvers  himself  <m  the  meanings  of 
the  verb  to  iUiuarate :  — 

1.  To  make  clear,  bright,  or  luminous. 

2.  To  set  in  a  clear  light ;  to  exhibit  distinctly  or  conspicuou^. 

3.  To  make  dear,  intelligiUe,  or  ai^rehensible ;  to  duekiate, 

explain,  or  exempBiy,  as  by  meaoa  of  figUTM,  oomparisoua, 
and  examples. 

4.  To  adorn  with  {rfetures,  aa  a  bode  or  subject;  to  duddate 

with  pictures,  as  a  history  or  romance. 

5.  To  give  renown  or  honor  to;  to  make  illustrious;  to  glorify. 


18   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINa 

The  first  meaning  is  purely  literal,  as  shown  in  the 
line  quoted  from  Chapman:  "Here  when  the  moon 
illustrates  all  the  sky,"  and  does  not  interest  us  here. 
The  fifth  meaning  is  also  foreign  to  our  present  purpose, 
and  besides  is  obsolete.   The  fourth  meaning  embodies 
only  a  special  form  of  illustration.   But  when  we  deal 
with  the  second  and  third  meanings,  we  come  to  close 
quarters  with  the  distinction  between  Exposition  and 
Illustration.    It  is  quite  obvious  that  if  we  set  some- 
thing m  a  clear  light,  or  exhibit  it  distinctly  or  conspicu- 
ously, we  are  really  domg  what  we  have  included  under 
the  head  of  demonstration  when  treatmg  of  Exposition. 
In  the  third  meaning  the  overlap  between  the  two 
processes  becomes  particularly  noticeable.   The  pur- 
pose of  Exposition  is  just  to  make  things  clear,  intel- 
ligible, or  apprehensible;  but  the  differentia  may  be 
found  in  the  second  part,  "to  elucidate,  explain,  or  ex- 
emplify, 08  by  means  of  figures,  eomjHxrisona,  and  ex- 
amples."  Here  we  are  led  to  see  that  Illustration  is 
to  be  regarded  as  a  branch  of  Exposition.   A  mere 
setting  forth  of  principles  may  be  fairly  called  Expo- 
sition, but  could  not  be  justly  called  Illustration.  It 
is  only  when  we  proceed  to  supply  examples,  and  to 
institute  comparisons,  or  in  some  other  way  to  ekkbo- 
rate  our  presentation,  that  we  can  be  said  to  illus- 
trate. 

The  secondary  meanmg,  then,  of  Illustration,  as 
found  in  the  dictionary,  but  the  primary  meaning  for 
our  purposes,  may  be  said  to  be  the  process  of  throwing 
light  upon  something  that  is  assumed  to  be  known 

already  in  a  vague  and  more  or  less  unsatisfactory  way. 
There  is  always  a  principle  or  body  of  principles  that 
may  be  regarded  as  given  (though  not,  perhaps,  neces- 


NATUBE  AND  SCOPE 


19 


sarily  given  to  the  pupil  at  the  beginnmg  of  the  illustra- 
tive process),  and  as  thus  forming  the  datum  of  the 
problem  of  Illustration.   This  I  should  like  the  reader 
to  permit  me  to  call  the  illmtrandum  as  a  parallel  tech- 
nical term  to  the  expositandum.    One  part  of  the  func- 
tion of  Exposition  we  have  seen  is  to  present  new 
matter,  and  another  is  the  manipulation  of  matter  that 
has  been  akeady  presented.   One  is  tempted  to  limit 
Exposition  to  the  first  function  and  to  hand  over  all 
the  rest  to  Illustration.   Anything  that  we  do  or  say 
to  introduce  a  different  arrangement  of  ideas  ahready 
in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  would  on  this  view  be  properly 
called  Illustration.  We  are  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that  Illustration  is  a  branch  of  Exposition,  and  must 
not  be  surprised  to  find  a  certain  overlapping  in  respect 
of  the  matters  treated.   In  point  of  fact,  both  processes 
deal  with  both  the  new  and  the  old.   Yet  there  is  a 
difference  in  their  use  of  the  two  kinds  of  materials. 
The  new  ideas  introduced  by  Exposition  form  an  es- 
sential part  of  the  subject-matter  that  is  under  disctis- 
sion,  while  the  new  matter  introduced  by  way  of  Illus- 
tration may  have  only  a  secondary  connection  with 
the  subject-matter.    An  illustration  may  introduce 
new  ideas,  but  these  are  not  in  this  connection  treated 
as  of  importance  in  th«nsdves,  but  only  as  throwing 
light  upon  the  ideas  that  are  at  the  time  being  ex- 
pounded. When  Mill  states  in  his  second  canon  — 

"H  an  instance  in  iduch  the  plMnomenon  under  tovestigatimi 
occurs,  and  an  inatanoe  in  which  it  does  not  occur,  have  every 
circumstance  in  conunon  save  one,  that  one  occurring  only  in  the 
former,  the  circumstance  in  which  akme  the  two  inrtanoaa  differ  is 
the  effect,  or  the  cause,  or  an  indiqpwwahls  part  of  Hm  oause,  of 
thephenwDMion**—' 


20   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

he  is  expounding;  but  he  proceeds  to  illustrate  when 
he  goes  on  to  say:  — 

"UABCADB.AFOwan  equaUy  foOowed  by  a,  then  a 
IS  an  invariable  consequent  of  A.    Uabc,ade,  a/g  all  number 
A  among  their  antecedents,  then  A  is  connected  as  an  anteoedent 
by  some  invariable  law,  with  a."  >  ' 

So  far  MUl  can  hardly  be  said  to  have  introduced  any 
new  ideas  by  way  of  illustration.   The  letters  are  mere 
pegs  ready  to  hang  matter  on  when  it  is  presented. 
When,  in  the  following  chapter  of  his  Logic,  he  intro- 
duces a  discussion  of  how  "arsenious  acid  and  the  salts 
of  lead,  bismuth,  copper,  and  mercury"  act  as  poisons, 
he  is  still  illustrating  the  canon,  but  he  is  introducing 
a  whole  series  of  entirely  fresh  ideas  that  have  no  con- 
nection m  themselves  with  the  subject-matter  under 
consideration,  which  is  the  logic  of  experimental  method. 
In  point  of  fact,  he  assumes  that  his  readers  know 
enough  about  chemistry  to  follow  easily  his  references 
to  Baron  Liebig's  theories.   As  a  general  rule  it  is 
unwise  to  use  as  iUustrative  material  something  that  is 
very  unfamiliar  to  the  pupa.   It  is  seldom  good  policy 
to  use  many  new  ideas  in  an  illustration.    In  certain 
cases  it  may  be  justifiable  to  "work  up"  an  elaborate 
illustration  out  of  new  materials.    But  this  is  permis- 
sible only  when  it  is  possible  to  group  mto  or   ,  ;ass  f 
number  of  facts  that  are  useful  not  merely  ab  lUustrt 
tive  of  certain  points,  but  as  themselves  important 
elements  in  the  organised  whole  that  makes  up  the 
subject  under  consideration.    lUust-ation  will  thus  be 
seen  to  be,  on  the  wliole,  rather  a  work  of  arranite- 
ment  than  of  addition. 

•  Logic,  Book  III,  Chap.  VIII. 


NATURE  AND  SCOPE 


21 


All  (he  same,  it  is  clear  that  illustrations  of  the  na- 
ture of  those  submitted  by  Mill  from  Baron  LieUg 

cannot  but  convey  in  passing  a  certain  amount  of  new 
information.  Not  only  do  they  make  clearer  and  more 
definite  the  points  that  they  illustrate,  but  they  in- 
crease the  mental  content  of  the  pupil.  He  may  not 
know  the  principle  of  the  lever  any  more  accurately 
after  a  long  series  of  illustrative  examples,  for  it  is 
quite  possible  to  understand  the  principle  from  only 
one  example,  but  he  will  understand  it  in  a  broader 
way.  His  experience  has  been  enriched  by  the  nimiber 
of  cases  m  which  he  has  seen  the  principle  exemplified. 
He  does  not  know  it  more  accuratdy,  but  he  knows 
it  more  usefully. 

Hitherto  we  have  been  considering  Illustration 
merely  from  the  cognitive  side,  as  a  means  to  enable 
the  pupil  to  understand  something  that  is  difficult. 
But  our  object  is  not  always  to  make  another  under- 
stand something.  It  may  be  to  make  him  realise  more 
vividly,  to  appreciate,  to  enjoy.  We  must,  therefore, 
make  provision  for  the  sesthetic  use  of  Illustration. 
The  importance  of  this  aspect  must  not  be  underes- 
timated. An  old  clergyman,  addressing  an  audioioe 
of  beginuOTs  in  his  own  profeseion,  told  tbsm  that  tiiey 
might  preach  over  and  over  the  same  sormon  at  rea- 
sonable intervals,  if  only  they  took  the  precaution  to 
change  the  text,  and  the  illustrations.^  The  congre- 
gation will  remember  the  illustrations  long  after  the 
expositions,  the  descriptions,  and  the  nhortatbns 

*  It  is  worth  noting  that  young  detgymen  have  (Hmiidaiiwd  that 
this  gracious  permission  to  use  old  sermons  is  no  great  relief.  After 
all,  they  say,  it  is  the  illustrations  that  count,  and  if  one  has  to  work 
them  up  into  the  veiy  warp  and  woof  of  ih»  ■wrmoa,  thb  piaetieally 
means  that  the  eermon  has  to  be  rewritten. 


22  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TRATI0N  IN  TBAOHINQ 


have  been  comfortably  forgotten.  Hereiii  lies  one  of 
the  chief  dangers  in  the  use  of  Illustration.   There  is  a 

strong  temptation  to  use  it  for  the  sake  of  its  own 
intrinsic  interest,  instead  of  for  the  interest  it  i  -^ouses 
in  connection  with  the  subject  under  discussion.  Un- 
less an  illustration  forms  part  of  the  very  nature  of  a 
lesson,  unless  it  is  worked  into  the  very  warp  and  woof 
of  the  whole,  it  is  illegitimate.^  An  illustration  must 
not  be  used  as  a  sedative.  Its  function  is  to  stimulate. 
The  teacher  may  think  that  he  is  entitled  to  introduce 
a  story  to  brighten  up  a  dull  lesson.  But  he  can  pur- 
chase this  privilege  only  by  invoiting  a  connection 
betwe^  the  story  and  the  lesson  he  is  teaching.  Some 
of  the  old  English  essayists  supply  capital  examples 
of  this  justifiable  combination  of  the  didactic  and  es- 
thetic functions  of  Illustration.  Thomas  Fuller,  for  in- 
stance, makes  a  very  systematic  appUcation  of  this 
form.  He  has  a  habit  of  marking  off  his  essays  into 
short  paragraphs,  each  beginning  with  an  easily  under- 
stood generalisation  immediately  followed  by  one  or 
more  illustrations  that  give  it  point.  Thus,  in  his  es- 
say, "Of  Memory,"  we  have  the  fourth  paragraph 
running:  — 

"Overburthen  not  thy  memory  to  make  ot  to  futhful  a  servant 
a  slave.  Remember,  Atlas  was  weaiy.  Have  as  much  reason  as  a 

'  People  who  make  a  study  of  the  art  of  advertising  take  the  view 
that  the  main  purpose  of  illustration  in  a  newspaper  or  on  a  poster 
is  to  attract  attention.  The  drawing  may  be  bad;  it  may  imt  accu- 
rately represent  the  object  advertised,  but  if  it  catches  the  attention 
of  the  passer-by  or  the  indifferent  newspaper  reader,  it  has  served  its 
purpose:  "Charles  Austin  Bates,  the  most  mipc(>8sfal  advertisement 
designer  of  the  day,  has  repeatedly  asserted  that  the  function  of  the 
Olustrator  Is  to  attract  attention,  and  not  necessarily  to  illustrate." 
Illustrated  Advertising,  by  F.  W.  Johnston,  Ninth  Edition,  Toronto. 
1901.  (Introduction.) 


NATURB  AND  800P1 


38 


eunel,  to  rise  when  thou  hast  thy  full  Umd.  Memory,  Wa  a  purse, 
if  it  be  overfull  that  it  cannot  shut,  all  will  drop  out  of  it.  Talce 
heed  of  a  gluttoqous  curiosity  to  feed  on  many  things,  lest  the  greedi- 
ness of  the  appetite  of  thy  memory  spoil  the  digestion  thereof. 
Besa's  case  was  peculiar  and  memorable;  being  above  fourscore 
years  of  age,  he  perfectly  could  say  by  heart  any  Gr;'ek  chapter  in 
St.  Paul's  Epistles,  or  anything  else  which  he  had  learned  long  before, 
but  forgot  whatsoever  was  newly  told  him ;  his  monory,  Uke  mi  iaa, 
retaining  old  guests,  but  having  no  room  to  entertain  new." 

This  use  of  Illustration,  common  in  Bacon,  and  in  a 
less  condensed  form  in  modern  essayists,  is  valuable 
in  sermons  and  hortatory  addresses,  but  must  be  used 
sparingly  in  lectures,  and  more  sparingly  still  in  les- 
sons. 

Essayists  who  follow  more  or  less  the  method  of 
Fuller  are  read  largely  for  the  interest  of  the  illustra- 
tions. But,  after  all,  the  best  essayists  do  m&\e  their 
generaUsations  the  important  points.  All  the  rest  of 
the  mattw  centres  round  th^.  The  illustrations  may 
not  be  necessary  to  make  clear  the  actual  meaning  of 
the  thesis,  but  they  at  least  illustrate.  They  form  an 
organic  part  of  the  whole;  they  are  not  dragged  in 
merely  for  the  sake  of  their  intrinsic  interest.  In  a  well- 
organised  lecture  or  lesson  it  is  possible  that  ihe  illus- 
trations may  occupy  more  space  than  tiie  statments 
to  be  illustrated;  but  the  main  statements  are  felt  to 
be  the  essential  matters;  the  illustrations,  however 
numerous,  are  organically  interstitial.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  lectures  and  lessons,  and  even  books, 
in  which  the  illustrations  are  the  main  element,  and  the 
rest  of  the  nuttter  is  worked  in  around  them.  The 
generalisations  are  interstitial;  the  substantive  mat- 
ter is  made  up  of  what  are  nominally  illustrations. 
Lectures  on  "The  Humour  of  Mark  Twain,"  on  "The 


2i    EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

Blunders  of  School  Childrai/'  on  ''Eleetion  Time  in 

Texas,"  are  all  very  likely  to  turn  out  to  be  series  of 
illustrations  with  a  few  strenuously  invented  general- 
isations keeping  them  apart.  The  most  popular  form 
of  book  review  is  made-up  mainly  of  interstitial  matter, 
and  lantorn  lectures  have  an  almost  irresbtible  t«i- 
dency  to  resolve  themselves  into  interstitial  common- 
places that  only  a  good  set  of  slides  can  condone  in  the 
judgment  of  an  intelligent  audience. 

Some  teachers  may  reasonably  interpose  here,  and 
maintain  that  lantern  lectiues  ought  to  be  interstitial. 
There  is  a  great  deal  to  be  said  in  favour  of  such  a  view. 
But  to  adopt  it  would  be  to  change  the  standpoint 
from  which  we  have  been  considering  the  whole  matter. 
It  is  quite  reasonable  to  maintain  that  the  most  valu- 
able part  of  a  lantern  lecture  is  not  what  the  lecturer 
says,  but  what  his  slides  show.  Still,  if  the  information 
conveyed  by  the  slides  is  r^arded  as  the  primary 
matter,  they  can  no  longer  be  treated  as  illustrations,: 
they  have  become  the  substantive  matter  of  teaching. 
The  interstitial  remarks  of  the  lecturer  are  really  illus- 
trative of  the  slides.  In  the  case  of  a  literary  lecture 
professmg  to  give  a  critical  estimate  of  a  writer's  works, 
it  is  illegitimate  to  depend  for  the  main  interest  of  the 
lecture  on  the  intrinsic  attraction  of  the  quotations. 
The  interest  should  be  in  the  relation  the  lecturer  is 
able  to  establish  between  his  generalisations  and  the 
particular  quotations  that  he  uses  to  support  his  views. 
"Note  the  beauty  of  this  passage;"  "What  could  be 
more  inspiring  than  the  following;"  "If  you  wish  to 
know  what  pathos  means,  turn  with  me  to  the  Ode  to 
 "No  one  with  a  spark  of  humour  in  his  compo- 
sition could  refrain  from  chortling  over  the  exquisite 


MATUBI  AND  lOOn 


35 


passage  I  am  about  to  read  to  you;"  all  these  are 
men  bits  of  padding  that  mark  what  may  be  called 
fiofer-pott  eritidsm.  On  the  oUwr  hand,  some  of  the 
fineet  passages  of  Shakespeare  may  be  read  with  ahnoet 
no  interest  in  their  primary  meaning  because  they  are 
being  used  to  illustrate  a  point  in  the  Shakespeare- 
Bacon  controversy.  It  is  quite  possible  for  a  lantern 
lectmre  to  depend  on  the  aetual  leetmre  that  is  deUveied, 
so  that  the  hearers  recognise  that  the  slides,  however 
good  they  may  be,  would  either  have  been  meaning- 
less without  the  lecturer's  exposition,  or  would  have 
had  quite  a  different  meaning  from  that  they  actually 
took  under  his  manipulation. 

It  is  elearly  impcnrtant  for  the  teaeher  to  distinguish 
between  the  value<^  of  certain  materials  as  illustrations, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  as  the  subject  of  actual  teaching 
on  the  other.  Finger-  lost  criticism  has  its  place  in 
school.  Indeed,  it  is  probable  that  some  readers  of  this 
chapter  have  got  rather  angry  at  the  idea  of  spoiling 
Shakespeare  by  using  his  writings  merely  to  illustrate 
an  argument.  But  for  our  professional  purposes  it  is 
important  to  keep  apart  the  two  uses  of  subject-matter, 
the  one  as  illustration,  the  other  as  substantive  matter 
of  instruction.  It  is  an  ^cellent  thing  to  read  to  a  class 
a  series  of.  extracts  from  a  standard  author  with  only 
a  few  explanatory  comments  —  probably  a  better  thing 
for  the  class  than  to  give  it  a  seriously  worked-out 
lecture  in  which  only  illustrative  extracts  are  given. 
We  have  to  remember  that  the  purpose  in  the  two  cases 
is  different.  In  the  first  we  are  giving  the  pupil  the 
actual  material;  in  the  second  we  are  entitled  to  as- 
sume that  the  pupil  has  the  material,  and  all  that  we 
have  to  do  is  to  manipulate  that  material  in  such  a  way 


26  ixposincm  and  tLLUvnuTioN  m  TiAOHiiro 


as  to  enable  him  to  acquire  a  better  mastery  of  what 
he  ahKady  pomtmm.  Under  ideal  eonditions  in  •  lec- 
ture on  the  Humour  of  Tom  Hood  it  may  be  assumed 

that  the  audience  have  all  read  Hood's  works  at  least 
once.  The  lecturer  has  therefore  no  need  to  fall  back 
on  mere  finger-post  criticism;  and  on  the  other  hand, 
he  has  no  temptation  to  rely  upon  the  intrinsic  interest 
of  the  passages  he  quotes.  In  practice,  however,  it  is 
impossible  to  attain  the  idecl,  so  the  teacher  has  to 
combine  in  the  most  effective  way  he  can  the  two  uses 
of  his  material.  In  a  lesson  intended  to  deal  with  liter- 
ature as  subject-matter,  the  teacher  should  seek  to 
make  himself  as  little  prominent  as  possible.  The 
matter  is  the  important  thing.  So  long  as  lantern  slidei 
are  used  as  teaching  matter  (docendum),  the  pupils  are 
entitled  to  attend  to  the  teacher's  explanations  only 
so  far  as  they  feel  the  need  of  them.  When  the  sUdes 
are  used  as  illustrstions,  the  incidence  of  attention 
diould  be  revived. 

The  subject-matter  of  teaching  illustrations  is  of  con- 
siderable importance.  In  certain  branches  no  problem 
emerges.  Only  one  kind  of  illustration  is  possible,  and 
the  choice  of  the  best  material  in  that  kind  is  really  an 
ess^tial  part  of  the  specialist's  knowledge  of  how  to 
teach  his  subject.  But  in  many  subjects  illustrations 
may  be  sought  from  all  parts  of  the  field  of  knowledge, 
and  the  question  arises  whether  it  is  better  to  select 
illustrations  from  matter  that  is  cognate  with  that 
the  pupils  are  dealing  with,  or  to  choose  matter  as 
different  from  that  as  poanble.  Generally  iq)eaking, 
it  is  better  to  keep  to  cognate  subjects,  as  in  this  way 
the  teacher  may  be  teaching  one  branch  substantively 
while  illustrating  another.   On  the  other  hand,  there 


HATUBI  .\2fD  toon 


37 


is  the  danger  of  weariness  if  the  pupils  are  never  allowed 
a  ehanie  of  vwim.  Teadien  are  beginning  to  realise, 
what  pupils  have  realised  some  time  ago,  that  it  ii 

possible  to  carry  the  method  of  correlation  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  exhaust  all  possible  interest  in  certain 
matters.  Illustrating  in  a  circle  is  not  quite  so  deadly 
as  reasoning  in  a  circle,  but  it  has  its  serious  defects. 

From  what  has  gom  htian,  it  mi^t  appear  to  f dlow 
that  in  using  Illustration  we  must  always  adopt  the 
deductive  method.  The  illustrandum  is  given  as  a  sort 
of  general  statement,  which  the  rest  of  the  process 
v>  vka  out  and  applies,  as  in  ordinary  deduction.  But 
Illu8toiti<m  may  Bometimes  be  used  in  what  may  be 
fairly  called  an  inductive  way.  Indeed,  the  nMthods 
used  in  applying  Illustration  vary  between  two  ex- 
tremes. At  the  one  end  is  the  plan  of  depending 
mainly  upon  Exposition.  Everything  is  stated  in  the 
plainest  possible  terms,  and  illustrations  are  introduced 
only  where  absolutely  neoeesary,  and  are  always  stated 
to  be  illustrations.  They  are  formally  introduced  by 
as,  or  some  such  word,  or  are  a  tually  named  illustration 
or  example.  This  all  fits  in  with  the  deductive  notion. 
At  the  other  extreme  are  found  those  cases  where  the 
illustration  is  given  almost  without  c<Hnment,  and  its 
meaning  l^t  to  be  inferred.  Eq)ecially  when  many 
illustrations  are  given  and  the  pupil  is  led  to  draw  cer- 
tain inevitable  conclusions,  the  resemblance  to  induc- 
tion is  so  great  that  the  reader  may  not  unnaturally  say 
that  it  is  induction  and  nothing  else.  The  genders  of 
Latin  nouns,  as  gatiiered  frmn  ini^jeeticm  ci  ^tukr  mae 
form,  may  be  inculcated  by  a  series  of  earardses  to  our 
pupils  in  which  certain  typical  Latin  nouns  are  S3r8tem- 
atically  called  into  play  without  any  overt  reference 


28  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTBATION  IN  TEACHmO 


to  their  gender.  But  some  may  be  inclined  to  question 
whether  this  is  really  Illustration.  Is  it  not  a  process 
in  which  we  teach  rather  than  merdy  illustrate  ?  It  is 
true  that  the  illustrandum  does  not  appear  till  the 
process  is  completed,  but  it  has  been  in  the  teacher's 
mind  throughout.  It  may  not,  therefore,  be  altogether 
unreasonable  to  regard  the  process  as  one  of  Illustra- 
tion, the  teacher  adopting  the  deductive  attitude  and 
passing  from  the  generalisation  to  the  particulars,  and 
the  pupils  reversing  this  ordei.  This  view  is  worth 
elaborating  a  little,  as  it  is  not  quite  in  harmony 
with  the  usual  nomenclature. 

Sometimes,  m  ordinary  experience,  light  is  thrown 
upon  some  matter  that  nevertheless  cannot  be  called 
the  illustrandum,  since,  at  the  beginning,  it  is  not  pres- 
ent as  such  in  the  mind  of  either  the  pupil  or  the 
teacher.  A  person  who  knew  no  German  was  called 
upon  to  make  a  vocabulary  that  included  over  two 
thousand  German  nouns.  She  had  to  indicate  in  each 
case  the  gender,  the  genitive,  and  the  meaning  of  the 
noun.  Her  method  was  the  straightforward  one  of 
looking  up  each  word  iii  a  standard  German  dictionary, 
and  copying  out  the  relevant  details.  As  th^  work 
progressed,  she  found  that  she  could  anticipate  with 
increasing  accuracy  the  gender  and  genitive  of  ^ch 
new  noun  as  it  presented  itself;  till  towards  the  end 
she  was  strongly  tempted  to  depend  upon  her  general 
impression,  without  troubling  to  verify  it  by  reference 
to  the  dictionary.  . 

A  still  more  striking  case  is  one  that  occurred  und«r 
the  deplorably  bad  system  of  payment  by  results,  that 
used  to  obtain  in  England,  in  which  the  teacher's  pro- 
fessional reputation  depended  upon  the  percentage  of 


NATURE  AND  SCOPE 


29 


pupils  he  could  contrive  to  squeeze  through  certain 
individual  examination  tests  at  the  end  of  each  school 
year.  A  harassed  .  ?rxchor,  who  had  not  enou^  time  to 
attend  to  the  d  lilards  that  iider  this  system  were  the 
persons  of  chi  f  importhm tried  to  get  rid  of  the 
tr  oublesome  cle  •  r  i  upils  in  her  youngest  class  by  keep- 
ing them  busy  with  long  addition  sums,  while  she  de- 
voted all  her  energy  to  getting  her  dullards  to  work 
little  sums  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  obtain  the  coveted 
pass.  Through  much  practije  the  clever  pupils  were 
able  to  work  the  long  sums  so  rapidly  that  they  were 
continually  worrying  the  poor  teacher  by  coming  back 
for  more.  To  save  time  in  giving  out  fresh  sums,  she 
dictated  only  one  line,  say  987,526,  and  told  the  pupils 
to  repeat  that  line  on  their  slates  another  eight  times, 
making  nine  lines  in  all,  and  then  add  the  whole.  The 
remarkable  thing  was  that  after  some  weeks  of  this  in- 
genious labour-saving  device,  the  poor  teacher  was  more 
harassed  than  ever.  The  children  appeared  to  have 
acquired  a  positively  uncanny  speed  m  addition.  On 
investigation  it  was  found  that  the  pupils  had  gradually 
noticed  that  there  was  something  peculiarly  sym- 
metrical about  the  new  sums  the  teacher  was  giving 
them.  Borne  of  the  more  intelligent  among  them  bepm 
to  see  that  it  was  a  pity  to  waste  time  adding  up  a 
colunm  of  nine  eights  when  they  had  added  up  such  a 
column  a  little  while  ago.  They  began,  therefore,  to 
keep  a  note  of  results  for  future  use,  and  gradually 
gave  up  adding  at  all,  except  in  the  matter  of  carrying 
from  one  column  to  another.  The  step  hem  this  to 
pure  multiplication  was  easy,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact 
was  not  made  by  the  pupils  themselves;  the  secret  of 
multiplication  was  communicated  to  them  (for  a  con- 


30   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTR.MION  IN  TEACHINO 

sideration)  by  certain  pupils  in  higher  classes  to  whom 
the  young  experimenters  had  been  talking  about  the 
peculiar  sums  they  had  lately  been  having.  The  net 
result  was  that  those  pupils  learnt  in  a  few  weeks,  and 
with  great  satisfaction,  the  full  meaning  of  the  multi- 
plication table  and  its  application,  matters  that  under 
ordinary  circumstances  take  a  whole  school  year  to 
master. 

It  might  be  argued  that  in  these  two  cases  the 
pupil  passed  from  the  illustration  to  the  illustran- 
dum.  But  this  is  an  unnecessary  strain  on  the  terms. 
It  is  better  to  restrict  the  term  lUuatrcUion  to  those  cases 
in  which  there  is  a  deUberate  attempt  to  throw  light 
upon  a  given  subject.  Here,  to  be  sure,  light  was 
thrown  upon  certain  matters,  but  without  any  delib- 
erate intention  on  the  part  of  either  teacher  or  pupil. 
The  learning,  in  fact,  was  carried  on  in  the  ordinary 
inductive  way. 

The  case  is  somewhat  different  when  the  teacher 
makes  a  deliberate  use  of  .the  illustration  before  pre- 
senting the  illustrandum.  He  is  often  able  to  arrange 
matters  so  that  certain  experiences  of  school  difficulties 
that  must  occur  at  any  rate  among  his  pupils  shall 
occur  at  certain  stages  that  are  convenient  for  him. 
He  can,  in  short,  modify  the  order  of  the  development 
of  the  pupil's  mental  experience  in  such  a  way  that  the 
elements  of  this  experience  shall  form  certain  combi- 
nations that  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  school  are 
desirable  because  they  lead  to  the  pupil's  coming  to 
certain  desired  conclusions.  To  put  it  somewhat  less 
abstractly^  it  is  quite  possible  for  a  master  who  has 
taught  the  same  school  grade  for  several  years  to  know 
very  exactly  how  certain  of  the  special  points  to  be 


NATURE  AND  SCOPE 


31 


dealt  with  in  that  grade  will  affect  certain  minds. 
He  is  therefore  in  a  position  to  arrange  the  matters  to 
be  presented  in  the  order  he  thinks  will  best  aid  their 
proper  assimilf*  "^'on.  For  example,  the  construction 
of  the  accusative  with  the  infinitive  in  Latin  involves 
problems  for  the  young  mind  that  are  insoluble  at  cer- 
tain stages  of  knowledge.  Iliis  subject  may  be  illus- 
trated in  advance  by  a  carefully  arranged  series  of 
lessons  that  have  no  apparent  connection  with  the 
oratio  obliqua,  as  found  in  Latin.  EngUsh  grammar 
may  be  so  taught  as  to  pave  the  way,  and  even  the  use 
of  brackets  in  algebra  may  be  regarded  as  a  prepara- 
tion, —  as  may  be  seen  in  the  interesting  little  mono- 
graph on  the  subject  by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Raven.* 

In  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term  an  illustration  is 
expected  to  accompany  the  subject-matter  to  be  illus- 
trated, so  it  must  be  admitted  to  be  a  little  strain  on 
the  term  to  call  such  processes  as  those  we  have  dealt 
with  in  t'  e  last  paragraph  Anticipatory  Illustration. 
To  be  sure,  the  teacher  always  has  the  illustrandum 
before  him  as  he  prepares  the  exercises  that  are  to  throw 
light  upon  difficulties  that  have  not  yet  ainaea  in  the 
pupil's  mind,  and  this  gives  a  certun  amount  of  justi« 
fication  for  the  introduction  of  the  term  Anticipatory 

>  "  Do  the  two  aeeuntives  both  feel  the  influence  of  the  Transitive 
dicU,  and  so  form  •  eomplez  noun,  governed  by  dicit,  so  that  the 
analysis  will  be  ■  He  mentiotu  the-enemy't-eotning  f  Key  (Lot.  Oram., 
§  911)  seems  to  take  a  somewhat  similar  view  to  this.  In  analysing 
FerurU  Catarem  rediiaae,  he  has  this  original  note :  '  A  mathematician 
might  have  expressed  thte  by  —  Fenmt  (Ctuar  ndiU)«m,  attaehing 
the  symbol  of  the  accusative  case  to  the  clause.  As  the  Romans 
were  afraid  to  do  this,  adopting  what  under  the  circumstances  was 
perhaps  the  best  makesiiift,  they  selected  for  the  addition  of  the 
suffix  the  chief  substantive.' "— Latin  Extrcm*  in  tht  Oratio  Obli^pia, 
by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Raven,  p.  55. 


32   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

Illustration.  But  the  real  reason  for  seeing  to  use 
the  phrase  is  that  there  is  need  for  some  term  to  desig- 
nate a  process  whose  importance  is  now  beginning  to  be 
appreciated  in  sch  >ols.  Using  Anticipatory  Illustra- 
tion in  such  a  way  that  pupils  must  reach  certain  gener- 
alisations, may  be  regarded  as  a  form  of  inductive  teach- 
ing. The  pupil  may  be  so  fed  with  i-lustrative  matter 
that  he  is  practically  coerced  into  reaching  certain  con- 
clusions. The  heuristic  method,  in  its  healthier  forms, 
is  nothing  more  than  a  system  of  Anticipatory  Illus- 
tration inevitably  leading  to  a  conclusion  that  already 
exists  in  the  teacher's  mind.  It  is  a  caricature  of  the 
method  to  describe  it  as  a  process  of  placing  the  pupil  - 
in  the  position  of  llie  original  discoverer  of  a  certain 
truth,  and  keeping  them  there  till  they  discover  it  for 
themselves.  We  cannot  put  pupils  in  the  position  of 
the  original  discoverer.  We  can  turn  them  loose  in  an 
orchard  and  let  them  watch  the  apples  falling;  but  it 
would  be  difficult  to  say  how  much  time  we  should  give 
them  before  we  come  back  to  find  them  in  possession 
of  the  theory  of  gravitation.  The  teacher  on  the  heu- 
ristic method  never  lets  go  the  guiding  reins.  He  may 
hold  them  now  loose  and  now  tight,  but  he  never  drops 
them.  He  knows  the  course  and  he  keeps  his  pupils 
in  it  —  with  the  minimum  amount  of  restraint,  it  is 
true,  but  the  restraint  is  none  the  less  real.  It  is, 
throughout,  a  system  of  Anticipatory  Illustration. 

It  is  sometimes  maintained  that  the  heuristic  method 
gives  no  real  training  in  induction,  since  all  the  matter 
is  so  carefully  arranged  beforehand  that  the  mind  is 
not  left  free.  But  the  mind,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is, 
under  no  drcumstcuices,  ever  left  free.  It  must  react 
upon  wb&t  is  presented  to  it,  ukd  it  acts  in  the  same 


NATURE  AND  SCOPE 


33 


way  upon  the  material  presented,  whether  that  comes 

at  haphazard  or  is  carefully  arranged  in  a  definite  order. 
The  induction  a  pupil  makes  as  the  result  of  considering 
a  number  of  anticipatory  illustrations  is  as  genuine  ea 
one  that  he  makes  in  his  ordinary  experience.  The 
fact  that  his  ordinary  induction  is  so  often  wrong, 
because  the  matter  is  not  presented  in  a  helpful  order, 
is  surely  no  advantage.  So  far  as  the  intellectual  pro- 
cess is  concerned,  there  is  no  difference  in  the  two  cases. 
An  induction  either  is  an  induction  or  it  is  not. 

A  more  plausible  objection  is  that  Anticipatory  Illus- 
tration may  be  so  arranged  as  to  prevent  the  possibil- 
ity of  error,  and  thus  deprive  the  pupil  of  that  prac- 
tice in  dealing  with  deceptive  cases  that  is  so  necessary 
as  a  preparation  for  the  work  of  life.  But  here  it  is 
only  necessary  to  remark  that,  in  spite  of  the  teacher's 
best  endeavours,  he  will  find  it  almost  impoodble  to  ar> 
range  his  anticipatory  illustrations  so  that  there  is  no 
loophole  for  error.  Further,  at  later  stages,  the  pupil 
is  left  more  and  more  to  his  own  resources.  Under  any 
system  inductions  must  be  verified,  and  this  verifica- 
tion may  be  as  well  taught  in  connection  with  the 
heuristic  method  as  with  any  other.  All  the  needful 
precautions  can  be  applied  here  as  elsewhere. 

As  an  example  of  the  application  of  Anticipatory 
Illustration  with  the  minimum  possibility  of  error, 
take  the  case  of  teaching  Euler's  Theorem,  that  gives 
the  f ormulte  for  the  numbtf  of  faces,  comem,  and  edges 
of  a  pyramid  or  prism  having  a  f^vea  geometrical  figure 
as  base.  The  data  of  the  theorem  may  be  so  presented 
that  the  pupils  must  discover  it  for  themselves.  They 
are  assumed  to  know  what  is  meant  by  a  face,  a  cor- 
ner and  an  edge.   The  teacher  supplies  the  pupils  with 


84    EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHmO 

the  nxteen  solids  named  in  the  following  table,  but  the 
numbers  as  they  appear  on  the  printed  tiU>le  are  not 
inserted:  — 


EULER'S  THEOREM 


Ptramiob 

Pbibiu 

Hams  or  Soun 

Faces 

Corners 

Edces 

Fmm 

Corner* 

Edges 

4 

4 

6 

Triangular 

5 

6 

9 

5 

5 

8 

Square 

6 

8 

12 

6 

6 

10 

Pentagonal 

7 

10 

15 

7 

7 

12 

Hexagonal 

8 

12 

18 

8 

8 

14 

Heptagonal 

9 

14 

21 

9 

9 

16 

Octagonal 

10 

16 

24 

10 

10 

18 

Nonagonal 

11 

18 

27 

11 

11 

20 

Decagonal 

12 

20 

30 

n  +  1 

n  +  1 

2n 

n-gonal 

n  +  2 

2n 

3n 

Provided  with  this  blank  table  and  the  necessary 
solids,  the  pupil  is  called  upon  to  fill  in  the  required 
numbers  by  the  simple  process  of  counting  from  the 
aotutd  solids  the  numb^  of  faces,  comers,  and  edges. 
All  he  is  asked  to  do  is  to  £11  up  the  table  as  far  as  the 
decagonal  solids.  Naturally  the  generalised  expres- 
sions in  terms  of  n  that  occur  at  the  end  of  the  table 
are  not  even  suggested  to  the  pupil.  It  is  the  purpose 
of  the  lesson  to  lead  the  pupils  to  reach  the  generaJisa^ 
tions  in  n  for  themselves.  To  enunciate  these  at  the 
b^inning  of  the  lesson  would  be  what  Professor  Henry 
E.  Armstrong  calls  "criminal."  * 

At  first  the  pupils  fill  up  the  table  in  that  conscien- 
tiously indiffer^t  way  that  childrra  have  of  d«ding 
wiUi  easy  routine  exerdses.  By  and  by  they  b^pn  to 

>  The  Ttaehing  o/Scitntiftc  Method,  p.  254. 


NATURE  AND  SCX)PE 


35 


note  a  eertain  symmetry,  and  thdr  inteneetual  intoeet 
is  aroused.  It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  omit  two  of  the 
figures,  say  the  octagonal  pyramid  and  the  nonagonal 
prism,  and  invite  the  pupils  to  fill  up  the  corresponding 
spaces  by  calculation.  It  will  be  found  that  fully  half 
of  the  class  will  be  able  to  do  this  directly  th^  come 
to  the  p]Bee  of  the  missing  figure,  and  almost  all  the 
rest  of  the  class  will  be  able  to  fill  in  the  blanks  after 
they  have  completed  the  entries  so  far  as  they  have 
solid  figures  to  count  from. 

The  second  stage  consists  in  requiring  the  pupils  to 
continue  the  table,  filling  in  the  non-techniosl  tertoB 
in  the  name  colunm,  11-gonal,  12-gonal,  13-gonal, 
and  so  forth  down  to  20-gonal.  Experience  shewed 
that  almost  every  pupil  in  a  class  of  sixty  boys  of  ten 
years  of  age  could  complete  the  table  up  to  20,  and  all 
this  without  one  sini^e  w<ad  of  explanation  horn  the 
time  the  first  number  was  set  down  till  Uie  60  edges  of 
the  20-gonal  prism  were  recorded. 

Keeping  "^^lo  the  case  of  the  class  just  mentioned, 
the  third  stage  consisted  in  setting  the  pupils  to  fill  up 
the  figures  for  a  40-gonal  figure,  th^  for  a  60-gonal, 
thai  for  a  lOO^nal  solid.  Hare  thoe  was  a  bigger 
percentage  of  Inreakdowns,  and  the  method  adopted  was 
to  write  the  correct  line  of  figures  on  the  blackboard 
after  each  solid  had  been  attempted.  In  this  way 
those  who  failed  in  the  40  solid  saw  how  things 
went,  and  generally  succeeded  with  the  60  or  the 
100  soUd. 

The  fourth  stage  consisted  in  a  series  of  exercises 
such  as:  How  many  edges  has  a  45-gonal  pyramid? 
a  45-gonal  prism  ?  How  many  comers  has  a  72-gonal 
prism?  liie  correct  answer  was  in  each  case  placed 


36  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TBATI0N  IN  TEACHING 

upon  the  board,  and  the  pupils  were  thus  enabled  to 
correct  any  miscalculation. 

The  fifth  stage  consisted  m  exercises  that  worked 
backwards:  A  ?-gonal  solid  pyramid  has  41  comers  ; 
how  many  faces  has  it?  How  many  edges?  What 
-gonal  is  it  ?  (That  is,  what  number  should  go  before 
the  -gonal  in  ^e  name  column  ?) 

The  final  stage  consisted  in  an  invitation  to  fill  up 
the  n-gonal  figures.  All  that  was  explained  was  that 
n  stood  for  any  number,  and  that  what  was  to  be  noted 
was  whether  the  different  numbers  would  be  greater  or 
less  than  n,  and  by  how  much.  At  the  first  exercise 
thirty-five  boys  wrote  down  the  correct  generalised 
form.  They  had  won  thdr  generalisation. 


CHAPTER  II 


Mbntal  Contbnt 

TiACHSBS  are  now  familiar  with  the  phenomena  of 

apperception.  At  the  earliest  stages  pure  sensation  is 
possible  to  the  developing  human  being,  but  very  soon 
sensations  are  associated  with  meaning  and  become 
perceptions.  Thereafter  every  stimulus  that  the  mind 
has  to  deal  with  is  modified  by  the  results  of  previous 
stimulations.  When  we  reach  the  plane  of  ideas,  it  is 
found  that  while  every  new  idea  presented  is  acted  upoa 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  mind,  these  laws  can 
only  be  applied  as  conditioned  by  the  other  ideas  at 
that  time  possessed  by  the  mind.  In  other  words,  each 
new  idea  is  acted  upon  by  all  the  other  ideas  at  that  time 
available  in  the  mind  m  question.  This  process  is 
known  as  pperception.  A  given  mind  possessed  of 
certain  ideas  must  react  in  a  determinate  way  when  a 
given  new  idea  is  presented  to  it.  Any  one  therefore 
who  knows  the  general  laws  of  mental  activity  and  the 
content  of  a  given  mind  may  act  upon  that  mind  witii 
a  fair  chance  of  being  able  to  produce  a  desired  mental 
result.  In  point  of  fact  this  is  what  the  expositor  does, 
for  Exposition  may  be  regarded  as  the  process  of  guid- 
ing and  directing  apperception  in  another  mind. 

Hie  first  assumption,  then,  underlying  the  art  <rf 
Exposition  is  that  it  is  possible  for  one  mind  to  act 
upon  another.  Suooes^ul  exposition  impties  that  one 

87 


88  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHINO 


mind  has  been  able  to  produce  a  predetermined  effect 
upon  aaothw.  Now  while  our  ordinary  experience 
leads  us  to  believe  that  this  interaction  between  minds 

is  continually  going  on,  the  slightest  dip  beneath  the 
surface  shows  us  that  the  matter  is  not  nearly  so  simple 
as  it  appears.  There  is  no  direct  communication 
between  minds.  Mind  imderstands  mind  only  by 
an  elaborate  system  of  interpretation.  Philosophers 
puzzle  themselves  and  theu-  readers  over  the  problem  of 
the  relation  between  the  individual  consciousness  and 
what  they  call  the  general  consciousness.  But  what- 
ever this  relation  may  be  it  is  one  that  does  not  admit 
of  articulate  ^ression.  For  all  practical  purposes 
each  individual  consciousness  is  insulated  from  ev&ry 
other.  Consciousness  is  as  impenetrable  as  matter: 
by  no  jsibility  can  we  penetrate  into  the  conscious- 
ness of  another.  What  goes  on  in  that  other  conscious- 
ness can  be  und^tood  by  us  only  as  the  result  of  a 
process  of  inference  from  our  own  expoience.  The 
everyday  ?t  of  influencing  the  mind  of  another,  there- 
fore, acq   :es  all  the  interest  of  a  mystery. 

We  may  never  be  able  to  explain  fully  all  that  under- 
lies this  mystery,  but  we  can  at  least  lay  down  certain 
conditions  that  must  be  complied  with  if  we  we  to 
succeed  in  producing  upon  the  mind  of  another  a  pre- 
determined effect.  To  begin  with,  we  must  be  able  to 
catch  and  retain  the  attention  of  the  pupil.  Next 
we  have  to  acquire  the  power  of  manipulating  his  men- 
tal content  so  that  there  shall  arise  in  his  mind  a  com- 
bination of  elements  similar  to  a  certain  combination 
ah-eady  existing  in  our  own  mind.  To  do  this  we  must 
have  a  knowledge  of  the  mental  content  of  the  pupil. 
The  next  condition  of  successful  exposition  is  a  luiowl- 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


99 


edge  of  the  laws  according  to  which  mind  in  general 
acts.  No  doubt  there  are  great  varieties  in  the  de- 
tailed working  of  indiviuual  ^nindt,  but  there  are  eer^ 

tain  laws  which  are  of  a  very  general  character,  it  is 
true,  but  which  within  the  wide  limits  of  their  applica- 
tion are  absolute.  We  cannot  break  these  k.W8  even 
if  we  try;  it  is  according  to  these  laws  that  the  mind 
always  reacts  upon  material  presented  to  it.  They 
are  generally  known  as  the  Lawsof  Thought  as  Thought, 
and  are  more  frequently  found  in  books  on  Logic  than 
in  books  on  Psychology.  So  exceedingly  general  are 
they,  that  when  they  are  stated,  they  sound  particularly 
empty.  But  it  has  to  be  remembered  that  their  empti- 
ness is  the  result  of  thor  universality.  Th^  run  as 
follows:  The  first,  known  as  the  Law  of  Identity, 
is  represented  by  the  enlightening  formula  A  is  A. 
This  again  is  explained  to  mean  that  everything  is 
equal  to  itsdf ,  or  the  whole  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the 
piurts.  It  has  to  be  noted  that  this  statement  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  either  the  whole  or  the  parts,  except  in 
their  relations  as  whole  and  parts.  It  is  found  to  be 
an  imperative  law  of  our  thinking  that  we  shall,  under 
no  circumstances  whatever,  conceive  the  whole  as 
being  eitho'  more  or  less  than  the  sum  of  the  parts. 
Of  the  many  meanings  that  have  been  given  to  the 
Principle  of  Identity  perhaps  the  one  most  in  point  here 
is  that  supported  by  F.  H.  Bradley.  This  is  that  under 
identical  circumstances  the  mind  mu^^t  reaffirm  what 
it  has  once  affirmed.  For  example,  if  I  have  once  truly 
said  that  the  sky  is  blQe>  I  am  bound  to  mamtun  tiie 
afiirmation,  even  though  the  sky,  as  a  mattorof  fact,  is 
blue  no  longer.  "Once  true,  always  true;  cmoe  false, 
always  false." ' 

'  The  PrincipUt  of  Logic,  p.  133. 


40  EXPOSITION  AMD  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


The  Law  of  Non-oontradiotion  is  the  second  of  these 
momentous  laws.  This  is  expressed  iu  the  formula: 
What  is  contradictory  is  unthinkable.  Its  shortened 
form  is  A  =  not-A  =  0,  or  A  -  A  =  0.  To  talce  a 
concrete  case,  a  watch  cannot  be  both  correct  and  in- 
correct at  the  same  moment,  and  tested  by  the  same 
stMidard.  A  povon  cannot  be  at  the  same  time  guilty 
and  not  guilty. 

The  third  law  introduces  us  to  what  is  known  as  the 
Excluded  Third,  or  the  Excluded  Middle.  This  com- 
pels us  to  think  that  of  two  repugnant  notions  that  can- 
not both  coexist,  one  or  the  other  does  exist.  "Of 
contradictory  attributions  we  can  only  affirm  one  of  a 
thing;  and  if  one  be  explicitly  affirmed,  the  other  is 
implicitly  denied.  A  either  is  or  is  not.  A  either  is  or 
is  not  B."  ^  A  centaur  either  is  or  is  not.  Socrates 
either  is  or  is  not  guilty. 

From  our  present  point  of  view  the  fourth  Uw  is  of 
less  consequence  than  the  others.  It  is  known  as  the 
Law  of  Sufficient  Reason,  and  limits  itself  to  the  asser- 
tion that  we  must  infer  nothing  without  a  cause,  or 
rather  without  a  ground  or  reason,  as  cause  is  usually 
restricted  to  the  region  of  the  actual,  and  reason  to  that 
of  thought.  The  very  statement  of  this  distinction  is 
an  explanation  of  the  comparative  unimportance  of 
this  law  as  illustrating  the  ultimate  process  of  thought. 
The  nature  and  origin  of  the  idea  of  causation  has  been 
elaborately  discussed,  and  when  so  much  can  be  said 
in  favour  of  the  Assoeiational  origin  of  the  idea  of  Causa- 
tion, it  L  '  xnot  bo  maintained  that  this  law  has  the  cer- 
tainty that  marks  the  others. 

So  unassailable  are  these  three  laws  that  the  genial 

'  Sir  William  Hamilton:  Lectures,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  83. 


mhitai.  ooNTBirT 


41 


feeling  of  every  one  who  hears  them  for  the  first  time 
is  that  they  are  superfluous,  if  not  indeed  a  little  silly. 
Why  state  them  so  ponderously  whea  no  one  questions 
thdr  truth.  Are  weany  furtharianriMiiitoi  wthave 
admitted  that  A  is  A,  that  A  cannot  be  both  A  and  not 
A,  that  a  thing  must  be  either  A  or  not  V  Yet  it  is 
because  of  our  unanimity  on  the-,  appareiitly  unim- 
portant points  that  we  are  able  to  reason  with  one 
another  in  the  full  aaninMHe  Uiat  we  diafl  eaa»  to 
oortain  inevitable  conclusiees,  if  ^y  ^  faeto  mn 
stated  aright.  Two  minds  that  are  givod  the  same  facts 
cannot  but  come  to  the  same  conclusion.  Depending 
upon  these  laws,  we  are  able  to  rely  upon  producing  by 
our  «cp(»3ition  a  d^nite  oiUcu'  '  >  effect  upon  the 
minds  of  othm.  Gttvea  ecrtaia  we  ean  iHtq>faMy 
the  mind's  reaction  upon  them. 

Unfortunately  the  certainty  of  reaction  is  disturbed 
by  the  nature  of  the  facts  submitted  to  the  mind. 
When  dealing  with  quite  abstract  elements,  as  in  formal 
1(^0  and  pure  matiieDiaties,  ^  action  ci  the  mind 
can  be  dep^ded  upon.  But  unlortanatefy  the  greater 
part  of  our  mental  activity  is  carried  on  in  connection 
with  matters  that  are  far  from  abstract.  It  is  custom- 
ary to  use  a  figure  of  speech  and  speak,  as  we  have  done 
once  or  twiee  abeady,  of  mental  content.  Natiirally 
we  must  be  m  om  guard  ai^ifant  accepting  this  figure 
as  expressing  literal  truth.  The  relation  betwe«ithe 
mind  and  mental  content  is  not  that  between  container 
and  thing  contained.  For  convenience  of  expression 
we  speak  of  the  mind  and  the  subject  upon  which  the 
mind  aeto^  but  the  two  terms  axe  <3XUsk  very  loo^y 
understood.  Occasionally  we  think  i^bout  this  afibject 
as  s<»nething  outnde  of  us  altogether.   Fot  eaMiiq;>le, 


42  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


the  mind  may  be  said  to  act  upon  the  colours  when  we 
watch  a  sunset.   If  this  be  so,  the  mind  is  acting  upon 
something  that  is  material.   But  it  would  be  better 
to  say  that  the  brain  throu^  the  medium  of  the  sense 
organs  is  being  affected  in  a  certain  way,  and  that  as 
a  result  the  mind  is  stirred  to  a  particular  kind  of  ac- 
tivity.   The  fundamental  connection  between  mind 
and  matter  is  fortunately  no  part  of  our  present  busi- 
ness; what  we  are  interested  in  is  the  connection  be- 
tween the  mind  and  that  upon  which  the  mind  acts. 
Speaking  generally,  the  mind  is  said  to  act  upon  ideas.^ 
Mental  content  is  usually  regarded  as  being  made  up  of 
ideas.   It  is  a  very  convenient  way  of  expressing  our- 
selves to  speak  of  the  mind  as  a  sort  of  force  that  acts 
upon  certain  entities  called  ideas.   But  ideas  are  not 
things  from  without  that  the  mind  takes  into  itself 
and  builds  up  into  useful  combinations.   Still  less  are 
they  independent  entities  that  act  on  their  own  initia- 
tive.  Ideas  are  not  so  much  things  as  forces.  They 
are  modes  in  which  the  mind  manifests  its  activity. 
It  is  not  so  much  that  the  mind  has  ideas  as  that  the 
mind  is  ideas.    It  was  formerly  fashionable  to  speak 
of  the  mind  as  having  a  certain  number  of  faculties; 
but  recent  writers  regard  the  faculties  as  merely  dif- 
ferent ways  in  which  the  mind  shows  its  activity: 
they  are  sometimes  spoken  of  as  modes  of  being  con- 
scious.'  This  description  might  be  equally  applied  to 
ideas,  the  difference  being  that  the  ideas  are  modes 
of  consciousness  more  specialised  than  are  the  facul- 

'  Cf.  Locke's  definition  of  an  idea  as  "whatsoever  is  the  object  of 
the  understanding  when  a  man  thinks."  Human  Underttandina 
Bk.  I,  Chap.  1,  J  8.  ^ 

» Cf .  Profeamr  Stout :  Mimual  ti  P^duhgy,  Book  I,  Ctmp.  t. 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


43 


ties.  My  idea  of  a  Uiole  is  my  mode  of  being  eonsdous 

of  tables,  but  it  has  its  peculiarities.  My  experience 
of  tables  has  not  been  exactly  the  same  as  everybody 
else's,  and  my  mode  of  being  conscious  of  a  table  is 
affected  accordingly. 

We  must  not  be  led  into  supposing  that  ideas  always 
represent  definite  separate  units  such  as  we  caU  things, 
or  even  that  they  always  correspond  to  what  are  called 
the  substantive  elements  of  thought.  It  is  found  that 
the  elements  of  thought  may  be  roughly  arranged  into 
two  classes:  those  upon  which  the  mind  may  rest  for 
at  least  a  br^  time,  and  those  that  are  always  on  the 
wing  and  cannot  be  made  by  themselves  the  matt» 
of  thought,  but  must  always  be  considered  in  relation 
to  other  thought-elements.  The  first  class  are  called 
the  substantive,  the  second  the  transitive,  elements. 
Naturally  these  torms  are  not  to  be  confounded  with 
their  equivalrats  in  grammar.  For  the  purposes  of 
Psychology,  for  example,  a  may  be  regarded  as  a 
substantive.  The  mind  can  rest  on  the  idea  implied 
in  the  verb  to  walk,  but  it  cannot  deal  with  such  a  word 
as  of  unless  it  gets  the  help  of  other  ideas.  The  dis- 
tinction betwem  the  substantive  and  transitive  must 
not  be  pushed  too  far.  We  can  in  thought  isolate  tran- 
sitive ideas  and  —  with  the  help  of  other  thrught-ele- 
ments  —  deal  with  them  as  substantives.  Have  we 
not  erudite  notes  on  such  transitive  elements  as  are 
indicated  by  ftA>  and  id?  There  is,  m  fact,  always  a 
strcmg  tendmey  to  turn  the  transitiive  donents  into 
substantive.  We  are  disinclined  to  let  an  idea  act 
merely  as  a  force.  We  want  to  pause  over  it,  and  wher^ 
ever  possible,  analyse  it.  In  actual  experience,  how- 
ever, we  frequently  fail  to  separate  out  the  definite 


44   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINO 

meaning  of  a  word  (which,  of  course,  represaits  an  idea), 

and  yet  we  can  use  it  quite  accurately.  We  often  find 
a  difficulty  in  explaining  the  meaning  of  a  peculiar  turn 
in  the  mother  tongue.  We  know  that  the  expression  is 
correct,  and  that  it  is  the  only  expression  that  will 
meet  the  case,  and  yet  we  cannot  explain  to  the  en- 
quiring foreigner  why.  What  is  called  the  Sprachg^uhl 
represents  this  general  sense  of  the  value  of  certain  of  the 
transitive  elements  of  thought.  We  recognise  them  as 
forces,  though  we  are  not  always  able  to  control  them. 

The  uneasiness  we  expe.  ience  in  dealing  with  the  tran- 
sitive demits  of  thou^t  results  from  a  natural  ten- 
dency we  all  have  to  endow  abstractions  with  a  more 
or  less  independent  objective  existence.  There  is,  in 
fact,  in  the  human  mind  a  strong  bias  toward  the 
"Thing"  stage,  and  this  bias  must  be  allowed  for  in 
our  efforts  to  convey  thoughts  from  mind  to  mind. 
The  fundamental  tcndracy  of  the  human  mind  to  treat 
thoughts  as  things  is  illustrated  in  the  universal  bias 
toward  personifying  the  forces  of  nature.  Poets  spend 
a  good  deal  of  their  time  in  this  process  of  giving  to 
airy  nothings  a  local  habitation  and  a  name.  But 
hypostasb,  as  this  tendency  to  reify  thoughts  is  called, 
is  apt  to  induce  confusion.  It  leads  us  to  imagine, 
for  example,  that  because  we  can  remember  and  imag- 
ine and  judge  we  must  have  faculties  of  memory, 
imagination,  and  judgment.  A  clock  can  tick,  but  no 
one  thinks  of  endowing  it  with  the  faculty  of  tiddbility. 
Yet  if  we  had  occasion  to  speak  a  great  ded  about  a 
clock's  power  of  ticking,  we  would  almost  certainly  fall 
into  speaking  of  its  tickibility  or  its  tickipacity.  For 
expository  purposes  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  term  to 
describe  the  various  modes  of  being  conscious,  and  so 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


45 


long  as  we  do  not  imagine  that  there  is  a  thing  corre- 
sponding to  each  of  the  terms,  no  harm  is  done  in  speak- 
ing of  the  faculties  of  m^ory,  imagination,  judgment, 
and  so  forth. 

It  is  obvious  that  there  is  the  same  tendency  to  hy- 
postatise  the  ideas  as  there  is  to  hypostatise  the  facul- 
ties. Indeed  the  two  —  the  ideas  and  the  faculties  — 
have  so  much  in  common  that  they  must  be  distin- 
guished, not  so  much  by  their  fund<unental  nature  as 
by  their  reference.  While  both  are,  as  we  have  seen, 
essentially  modes  of  being  conscious,  a  difference  be- 
tween them  may  be  said  to  be  that  while  all  men  have 
the  same  faculties, — though  perhaps  '  ot  of  the  same 
quality, — aSl  men  are  far  from  having  the  same  ideas. 
The  fact  is  that  ideas  are  forces  that  have  brought  the 
mind  into  touch  with  sometlung  outside  itself.  They 
therefore  either  directly,  or  at  one  or  more  removes, 
have  a  real  connection  with  the  outer  world.  They 
are,  in  consequence,  to  some  extent  dependent  upon  the 
nature  of  the  environmoit  in  which  the  mind  functions. 
The  same  thing,  however,  may  be  said  about  the  facul- 
ties. Memory  differs  greatly  according  to  the  class  of 
facts  upon  which  it  is  exercised.  We  may  all  be  said 
to  have  good  memories  for  something.  So  with  imag- 
ination and  even  reasoning.  We  always  reason  more 
easily  when  dealing  with  mattoB  with  which  we  are 
familiar.  This  does  not,  of  course,  mean  that  the  reason 
acts  in  one  way  in  dealing  with  stocks  and  shares  and 
in  another  in  elaborating  metaphysical  theories.  Simi- 
larly, then  are  general  laws  according  to  which  the 
consciousness  acts  in  forming  ideas,  — laws  that  are  ilw 
same  whether  the  idea  hM  to  do  with  the  ccmerete  or 
theabstraot. 


46    EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINO 


A  convenient  way  of  expressing  the  facts  of  the  case 
is  to  say  that  some  modes  of  being  conscious  are  more 
general  than  others,  and  are  called  faculties;  others 
less  general  and  more  affected  by  what  they  act  on  are 
called  ideas.  Since  ideas  are  so  much  determined  by 
our  dealings  with  the  external  world,  they  may  be  said 
in  some  sort  to  r^resent  the  extern^  world.  This  is 
how  it  comes  about  that  ideas  are  often  spoken  of  as  if 
they  were  the  material  upon  which  the  faculties  act. 
We  do  not  usually  speak  of  the  mind  acting  upon  the 
imagination  or  the  judgment  —  though,  by  the  way, 
we  sometimes  hear  expressions  among  those  who  pro- 
fess to  improve  the  memory  that  seem  to  imply  an 
action  of  the  mind  on  the  memory  —  while  we  do  speak 
of  its  acting  upon  ideas.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  ideas 
may  be  called  the  content  of  the  mind,  since  they  pro- 
vide a  means  by  which  the  activities  of  the  mind  may 
be  exOTcised.  Memory,  judgment,  reasoning,  and  the 
other  so-called  faculties  cannot  exist  unless  th^  have 
something  to  exercise  themsdves  upon.  They  cannot 
carry  on  their  functions  in  vacuo.  They  depend  upon 
the  ideas  to  provide  them  with  the  necessary  material 
to  operate  upon.  This  may  be  accepted  as  a  useful 
form  of  stating  the  ease,  but  it  is  necessary  to  be  always 
on  our  guard  against  supposing  that  the  ideas  are  in  any 
real  sense  more  material  than  the  mind  itself.  They 
may  be  that  upon  the  production  and  manipulation  of 
which  the  activity  of  the  mind  expends  itself,  but  it  is 
only  in  this  metaphorical  sense  that  they  can  be  re- 
garded as  material. 

While  we  treat  ideas  as  forces,  we  are  still  in  danger 
of  hypostatisation.  They  are  forces,  no  doubt,  })ut 
nut  independent  forces.   We  sometimes  speak  of  them 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


47 


in  a  vague  way  as  acting  upon  the  mind.   But  this  is 
always  a  mistake.   They  never  act  upon  the  mind  for 
the  reason  that  ihey  themselves  are  only  modes  in 
which  the  mind  acts.    It  has  been  suggested  that  an 
explanation  may  be  effected  by  r^parding  the  ideas  as 
one  part  of  the  mind  acting  upon  another  part.  To 
this  no  objection  need  be  raised  so  long  as  it  is  clearly 
recognised  that  the  normal  healthy  mind  is  after  all 
one  and  indivisible.   From  its  very  nature  as  an  or- 
ganism the  mind  must  have  action  and  reaction  going 
j^n  within  itself,  but  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  it 
always  remains  one  organic  whole.    Ideas  are  really 
more  or  less  stereotyped  modes  of  being  conscious,  re- 
sulting from  the  more  or  less  constant  reaction  to  the 
same  sort  of  conditions.  A  set  of  conditions  that  is 
contmually  recurring  in  absolutely  the  same  way 
naturally  causes  a  very  definite  reaction.*   This  gives 
rise  to  what  may  be  called  an  idea  of  great  force,  say, 
the  idea  of  food.   We  can  think  of  this  idea  and  speak 
about  it  without  really  believing  that  there  is  an  idea 
of  food  apart  from  any  mind.  When  we  say  that  the 
idea  of  food  produces  a  certain  effect  on  the  mind,  what 
we  really  mean  is  that  the  mind  as  a  whole  is  experienc- 
ing a  reaction  resulting  from  its  own  activity  in  a  cer- 
tam  direction.   When  several  ideas,  say  food,  hunger, 
poverty,  are  said  to  act  upon  each  otho*,  what  is  meant 
is  that  the  mind  is  correlating  its  various  activities 
in  relation  to  conditions  that  lie  outside  of  itsetf . 

•  A  skilled  mechanic's  idea  of  a  hammer  is  quite  different  from 
that  of,  say,  a  writer  of  novels.  Foremen  in  worb  tdl  as  that  Otey 
know  the  reaUy  sldlled  workman  by  the  way  he  lifts  a  hammer.  His 
reaetkm  to  quite  diffeient  tnm  that  of  the  casual  user  of  the  imole- 
mmt.  *^ 


48   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  tEkCHOtQ 


As  a  matter  of  phrasing,  therefore,  it  nay  be  per- 
missible occasionally  to  speak  of  ideas  as  forces  acting 
and  reacting  upon  each  othisat.  But  it  has  always  to 
be  kept  in  view  that  this  is  only  a  mode  of  ea^ression, 
a  convenient  figure  of  speech;  and  that  the  mind  is  the 
sole  source  of  the  activity  of  the  ideas. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  follows  that  ideas  are  of 
different  degrees  of  remoteness  from  the  outer  world. 
Certain  ideas  can  be  got  directly  from  without  and  in 
no  othtf  way.  The  only  way  to  attain  to  an  idea  of 
the  scent  called  Eau  de  Cologne  is  to  experience  the 
sensation  caused  by  smelling  it.  But  the  idea  of  scent 
as  such  is  formed  within.  From  without  we  can  get 
such  ideas  as  red,  blue,  yellow,  and  green;  but  we  must 
look  within  for  the  idea  of  colour.*  Ehcposition  is  quite 
unable  to  make  a  congenitally  blind  person  realise  what 
blue  is,  though  it  may  enable  him  to  understand  by 
analogy  from  certain  other  senses  the  sort  of  function 
that  colour  has  in  our  interpretations  of  the  outer  world. 
A  blind  person  may  th^fore  be  placed  in  tibe  position 
of  being  able  to  behave  quite  intelligentiy  in  rdation 
to  certain  questions  involving  colour. 

Since  the  essential  purpose  of  Exposition  is  to  cause 
to  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  a  combination  of  ele- 
ments exactly  corresponding  to  a  combination  at  that 
costing  in  the  mind  of  the  depositor,  it  u  easy 
to  see  that  in  sensory  mattei^,  such  as  colour,  taste,  and 
smell,  it  may  well  happen  that  Exposition  fails  because 
the  necessary  elements  are  not  present  in  both  minds. 

'  For  a  very  graphic  and  intelligible  account  of  the  relation  between 
ideas  that  depend  on  outward  stimulus  and  those  that  arise  within, 
aee  Huxley's  Hume,  p.  68  ff.  The  whole  of  the  Chapter  on  Th$  Cm- 
UMIttftlm  Mind  kt  vwy  lUiiminating 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


49 


But  there  is  a  source  of  danger,  even  when  all  the 
elements  are  present  in  both  minds.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  the  elements  may  be  differently  (Hnnfained  in  the 
teachw-mind  and  tiie  pupil-mind.  Somedmes  the 
combination  formed  in  the  pupil's  mind  is  quite  reason- 
able, and  teacher  and  pupil  may  talk  for  long  enough 
about  the  matter  without  discovering  that  they  are 
dealing  with  combinations  that  do  not  agree.  It  was 
only  by  a  chance  statement  in  ui  exftminatSon  paper 
that  a  teacher  discovered  that  one  of  his  best  pupils  had 
been  for  years  under  the  impression  that  John  Knox 
had  been  hanged.  The  cause  of  the  error  was  a  mis- 
interpretation of  the  remark  made  by  the  teacher  in 
class:  "John  Knox  was  then  Beat  to  the  galleys." 
Not  having  heard  of  the  galleys,  and  bong  familiar 
with  the  word  gaUowa,  the  pupil  made  the  natural 
enough  assumption  that  Knox  was  hanged.  The  mis- 
take ought  to  have  been  discovered  by  a  comparison 
of  dates,  but  schoolboys  are  very  willing  to  accept 
on  trust  a  hypothesis  that  fits  in  with  all  the  demands 
of  a  given  lesson.  Usually  the  comlnnation  of  ideas  in 
the  pupil's  mind  is,  as  in  this  case,  quite  intelligible 
to  the  teacher  as  soon  as  it  is  exposed.  But  occasion- 
ally pupils  who  have  had  quite  a  different  early  train- 
ing from  that  of  their  teachers  may  make  combinap 
tions  that  are  unintelligible  evoi  ifh&i  laid  bare.  An 
Engli«ih  Master  could  not  understand  ttie  word  smoke 
that  occurred  in  a  Scotch  boy's  essay.  He  gathered 
from  the  contsxt  that  it  was  something  to  eat,  but  could 
not  accept  the  boy's  confident  explanation  that  it  was 
a  small  steak.  Carefol  enquiry  brought  out  the  faet 
that  in  the  boy's  family  eirele  this  was  the  accepted 
meaniBg,  its  arigin  being  a  eoraqplioii  of  the  mt^aML 


50  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHINO 

TOtton  of  the  Hundredth  Psahn.  This  had  been 
taui^t  to  the  diikifen  before  they  could  read,  by  mak- 
ing them  repeat  the  words  after  the  nurse.  Since  th^ 
could  not  understand  the  real  sense,  they  had,  from  a 
fundamental  necessity  of  human  thought,  to  supply  a 
sense  of  their  own. 

Know  that  the  Lord  is  God  indeed ; 

Without  our  aid  he  did  us  make :  [did  a  smake] 

We  are  h»  flock,  be  doth  us  feed, 

And  f(Hr  his  she^  he  doth  us  take.        [doth  »  steak] 

Custom  legitimised  the  new  substantive  smoke  in  the 
family  circle,  and  the  boy  did  not  realise  that  it  was 

not  current  in  the  outside  world. 

Speaking  generally,  the  best  way  of  preventing  serious 
misconceptions  of  the  kind  we  have  been  dealing  with 
is  to  encourage  the  interchange  of  ideas  in  class.  This 
it  is  that  to  some  extent  justifies  the  otherwise  unrea- 
sonable desire  the  teacher  has  for  reproduction  of  knowl- 
edge by  the  pupil.  But  the  best  form  of  reproduction 
is  that  which  applies  knowledge  already  acquired 
rather  than  merely  produces  it  for  inspection.  In  the 
give  and  take  of  genuine  class  teaching  there  is  every 
chance  that  misconceptions  of  all  kinds  will  be  exposed, 
not  necessarily  to  the  teacher  but  to  the  pupils  them- 
selves. Many  a  brilliant  howler  is  lost  to  the  school 
because  the  pupil  himself  learns  in  time  from  the  work 
that  is  going  on  in  the  class  that  the  answer  he  would 
have  given  had  he  been  unfortunate  enough  to  be  called 
upon  is  not  exactly  the  sort  of  thing  that  would  com- 
mend itself.  The  teacher  has  the  further  satisfaction 
of  knowing  that  not  only  does  this  exchange  of  ideas 
serve  the  particular  ends  of  Exposition,  but  is  in  itself 


mRTAL  C»imilT 


51 


of  such  importance  that  it  may  fairly  be  treated  as  a 
fundamental  fiart  oi  tiie  work  of  education.  Mr. 
H.  G.  Wells,  for  example,  lays  it  down  that  the  chief 
function  of  education  is  to  cultivate  juat  this  fcom  of 
interaction:  — 

"The  pressing  business^  the  school  is  to  widen  the  range  of  inter- 
course.  It  is  only  secondarily  —  so  far  as  scbooUog  goes  —  or  at  any 
rate  Mibtequentfy,  that  the  idea  of  diapinib  «r,  at  leift  trying  to 
shape,  the  expanded  natunl  man  bto  a  cHim  oomes  fai."  * 

It  is  dear  that  for  this  improvement  in  intercourse 
there  must  be  not  only  agreement  in  the  methods  in 
which  minds  work,  but  substantial  agreement  among 

the  results  of  mental  process.  To  put  the  matter 
baldly,  there  must  be  agreement  between  the  mental 
content  of  teacher  and  pupil  if  there  is  to  be  communion 
between  them.  Exposition  has  for  its  aim  the  estab- 
lishment of  this  agreement.  Even  random  intercourse 
between  teacher  and  pupil  will,  if  continued  long 
enough,  lead  to  the  discovery  of  whatever  disagree- 
ments exist  between  the  two  mental  contents.  But 
for  satirfactory  work  it  is  nec^sary  to  have  some  com- 
mon standard  to  vHiidi  both  oontmts  may  be  r^erred, 
so  as  to  bring  out  inconcdstencies.  This  standard  is 
to  be  found  in  the  outer  world.  Teacher  and  pupil 
alike  may  test  their  idea-combinations  by  comparison 
with  what  goes  on  in  the  world  around  us.  After  all, 
our  mental  content  is  prinuyrUy  made  up  out  of  our  re- 
actions upon  the  outer  world,  and  the  value  of  our  com- 
binations of  ideas  may  be  tested  by  seeing  how  far  they 
will  work  in  relation  to  the  state  of  things  outside  of  us. 
The  combinations  in  every  normal  mind  can  stand  this 

*  Mankind  in  the  Making,  p.  214. 


52  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINQ 

test  of  senng  whether  th^  "work"  or  not  in  our  or- 
dinary life.  Unless  our  inner -worid  and  the  out«r  fit 

into  each  other,  there  is  obviously  something  wrong. 
It  is  not  perhaps  too  strong  a  statement  to  make  that 
a  great  deal  of  exposition  has  for  its  object  the  build- 
ing up  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil  of  great  combinations  of 
ideas  that  correspond  with  the  facts  of  the  outer  world. 
It  is  obviously  of  the  first  importance  that  we  should 
carefully  consider  the  nature  of  the  two  worlds,  and 
particularly  their  relation  to  each  other.  The  outer 
world  is  not  only  a  standard  by  which  to  compare  two 
inner  worlds,  —  the  teach^world  and  the  pupil-world, 
— but  the  source  of  the  pattern  upon  which  all  inner 
worlds  are  built. 

The  plain  man  has  no  difficulty  in  believing  that  there 
is  a  world  outside  of  him,  and  that  this  world  is  full  of 
objects  upon  which  he  acts  and  which  in  turn  act  upon 
him.  He  has  no  doubt  whatever  that  he  knows  thi') 
outer  world,  and  that  it  exists  independently  of  him: 
that  it  has  existed  before  he  was  born,  and  will  exist 
when  he  has  passed  away.  Some  people,  by  reason  of 
greater  opportunities,  may  know  more  of  this  world 
than  do  others,  but  it  does  not  occur  to  the  plain  man 
to  doubt  that  it  is  possible  to  know  it  at  all.  This  is 
left  for  certain  philosophers  who  point  out  that  all  we 
can  ever  know  is  made  up  of  our  own  sensations  and 
the  interactions  and  combinations  of  these  sensations. 
Out  of  the  elements  of  sensation  each  of  us  builds  up  a 
world  of  his  own,  but  thinks  that  world  exists  outside. 
At  first  sight  it  appears  easy  to  demonstrate  the  absurd- 
ity of  a  theory  that  maintains  that  there  is  no  outer 
world  at  all,  but  that  each  of  us  makes  up  a  world  of 
his  own.   So  soon  as  we  try,  however,  we  find  that  tlie 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


68 


theory  has  a  great  deal  of  fight  in  H,  and  that  the 

troublesome  philosophers  have  much  to  say  for  them- 
selves. It  is  found  that  all  our  proofs  ultimately  come 
back  to  the  evidence  of  our  senses.  We  ar'^  confined 
within  the  circle  <^  our  own  experience,  and  though  we 
bdieve  that  there  is  an  outer  world  we  cannot  i«ove  its 
existence. 

Do  I  see  a  water  carafe  before  me,  or  do  I  only  ex- 
perience certain  sensations  of  light  and  shade?  It 
makes  matters  no  better  when  I  stretch  out  my  hand 
and  feel  the  carafe.  I  only  add  a  bundle  of  new  sen- 
sations. Even  when  I  pour  out  some  water  and  drink 
it,  I  am  no  further  forward.  I  have  only  multiplied 
sensations.  I  have  not  got  beyond  the  range  of  my 
own  personal  experience.  I  believe  that  there  is  a 
carafe  there,  but  I  cannot  get  at  it.  There  is  the  word 
carafe,  and  there  is  the  complex  bundle  61  soisations 
that  make  up  my  version  of  a  carafe.  But  is  there  a  real 
carafe,  independent  of  me,  —  a  carafe  that  exists  when 
I  am  not  there  to  perceive  it  a  carafe-in-itself  ?  This 
problem  of  the  existence  of  a  Thing-in-itself  apart  from 
any  percdving  being  is  of  great  importance  in  philos- 
ophy, but  for  the  plam  man  it  is  an  ezcellait  prdblon 
to  give  up.  Let  us  honestly  brg  the  question.  Let 
us  acknowledge  that  we  cannot  prove  the  existence  of 
an  outer  world  independent  of  us,  and  let  us  at  the 
same  time  take  H  for  granted  that  there  is  au  outer 
world. 

The  very  use  of  the  words  "an  outer  world"  implies 
the  existence  of  a  world  that  is  not  outer.  With  this 
inner  world  we  are  on  friendlier  terms.  We  feel  at  home 
m  it.  We  seem  to  be  free  from  criticism  there.  No 
one  from  without  can  penetrate  within  it.  We  are 


54    EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  lEACHINO 


oturadveff  the  only  perMmt  aqwble  of  paafaig  jtK%- 
ment  on  its  existeoot  and  nature.  When  we  speak 
of  the  mind's  eye  we  imply  that  there  is  an  inner  w  urld 
that  we  can  look  upon  after  the  fashion  in  which  we 
examine  the  outer  world.  This  wotild  sug^t  a  re- 
ionblance  between  the  two  worlds.  Moel  pec^  i^ien 
questioned  v^  o.ild  say  that  their  inner  world  is  a  repro- 
duction oi  th  •  outer,  a  sort  of  vaguer  and  less  vigon 
duplicaic  of  wliitt  exists  outside.  As  «  after  of  faft 
the  inner  world  is  is  part'  a  reproductioii  uf  our  expen- 
•fiee  <^  the  outer  irafki  When  we  eloee  our  eyes  and 
recall  a  past  oxperi  nce  involving  elements  depending 
on  the  outer  world,  there  is  without  doubt  a  reproduc- 
tion of  what  occurred  n  the  past  inoluiiing  those  ele- 
ments; our  present  vague  exper.tince  is  similar  to, 
though  feebl^  than,  our  past. 

But  this  is  not  quite  the  wmm  tiung  as  to  My  that  tte 
inner  world  resembles  the  oi^tet.   Our  mental  pictofe 
of  a  water  carafe,  even  vhen  wo  are  looking  at  it,  may 
not  at  all  resemble  the  real  .carafe,  the  carafe-in-it> 
All  that  we  can  say  —  but  this  i?,  quite  enough  for  ae 
practical  purposes  of  life  —  is  that  thoe  is  a 
spondence  between  ^  inner  and  the  out  .  -  worl  ^: 
they  fit  into  one  anothe?,  and  both  remai'       !^  Ui 
Whatever  the  carafe-in-itsi  lf  is  really  like,  al 
causes  the  same  mental  picture  to  arise  whe 
at  it;  it  always  reacts  in  the  same  way  to  i^N^ 
seises.   So  that  after  all  wl^t  it  m  r»Uy  like  is  not  oi 
any  moment,  since  we  can  nsnrer  by  any  el^ae  get  at 
this  real  appearance. 

'  Part  of  our  inner  world  is  orii;  ated,  if  the  rxpressic,  may  be 
permitted,  "on  the  premises."  Ou:  eling--  -iid  desires,  .or  example, 
must  be  eoosidend  m  cawntiaiiy  of  ttx  iner  wmM  aloae. 


MEN!  A  I.  caNTBNt  55 

We  are  apt  to  pictiirr  :he  tnntf  world  M  nuKfo  up  of 

stly  watfT  carafes,  tables,  houses,  m  jntains,  seas, 
skies,  cIou(  alJ  (  ubined  in  an  orderly  wa  v,  —  a  sort  of 
well-«rraiiged  or*  bouse  of  sliadowy  things  that  cor- 
respond to  th.  thkipp-ia-tlieiiMelyw  that  form  the  real 
world,  rhii*  vif '  -  m  ay  be  compared  with  that  etage  of 
th»,ught  t  '  at  h^r  \m  already  referred  to  a.s  he  Thing 
stage.  In  his,  t.  ,  ies  e  of  thought,  the  world 
isa.v  miie(  be  ma.!»  p  a  great  series  of  indepen- 
dent thagg,  e^h  er;  mg  fe*  md  for  itself.  Tl  tage 
18  Uly^tmted  in  the  w»  of  <^dren  and  sa  agee. 
Llierc   arh  th,  *v       ^ar:  -ly,  and  set  down 

on  h(   ,aper  »  ^th(       It  is  only  when 

V  '  cgi  .  to  .  he  relaiiuiis  betv\  ^n  the  individual 
tkmm       w*  that  they  are  not  so  indt  lendent 

ofet^  ^  th^seem.  This marits  the riw of  the 
Law  •  irh  relations  are  studied  and  n^dooed 

to  ordei  a  ^  dassified.  Most  people  pas 
'  Ota  the  T  ig  stage  and  the  Law  stage.  com- 
.  -^tiyely  r  each  the  third  stage  known  a^  n, 
in  which  ?  Laws  themselves  have  their  ^ 
Iwougl  by  being  refened  to  great  general  > 
ciplee  linate  them. 

The  .ngs  that  make  up  the  inner  world  are  some- 
t  »e8  n  rred  to  as  ideas,  concepts,  or  images.  The 
1:  '  imae  is  applicable  only  when  we  are  dealing  with 
Ui.  lirect  F^iroduction  of  a  particular  experience.  If 
1  cal  p  a  mental  picture  of  a  par^eular  table  that  I 
with,  I  have  an  image.  But  if  I  merely 
thini.  uut  table  in  general,  I  can  have  no  particular 
picture,  for  I  do  not  know  enough  about  it ;  or  if  you  like, 
I  know  too  much.  I  do  not  know  whether  to  picture 
the  taWe  as  round  <»  square,  or  with  four  legs  or  three 


66   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUBTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

or  six,  and  yet  I  know  that  it  may  be  pictured  in  any  of 
these  ways.  This  kind  of  general  idea  that  cannot  be 
reduced  to  a  picture  is  the  kind  that  is  properly  called 
a  concept.  It  must  be  general  enouf^  to  include  all 
kinds  of  things  that  belong  to  its  class.  The  concept 
table,  for  instance,  must  be  ready  to  include  all  kinds  of 
tables,  —  round,  square,  oblong,  oval,  hexagonal,  — 
but  it  must  never  be  any  of  these.  It  has  to  pay  for 
its  extreme  generaUty  by  the  loss  of  the  power  evar  to 
become  particular.  The  concept  has  the  power  of 
crystallising  out  into  any  particular  example  of  that 
concept,  but  it  possesses  this  power  only  on  the  condi- 
tion that  it  shall  never  exercise  it,  without  the  result 
ceasing  to  be  a  concept  and  becoming  a  generalised 
image  or  type. 

This  genmdised  image  or  type  stands  between  the 
mere  image  and  the  concept.  If  I  look  at  a  particular 
dog  Ponto  here  and  now  present,  I  have  a  percept. 
If  in  the  absence  of  the  dog  I  call  up  in  my  mind  a  pic- 
ture of  this  very  dog  Ponto,  I  have  an  image.  If  now 
I  call  up  in  my  mind  a  picture  of  a  dog  that  is  not  a  re> 
production  of  any  particular  dog  that  I  have  ever  seen, 
but  stands  for  a  type  of  all  dogs,  a  sort  of  pattern  of 
dog  in  general,  I  have  a  generalised  image  of  dog. 
This  generalised  image  differs  from  the  concept,  since 
the  latter  cannot  be  represented  as  being  any  special 
kind  of  dog  at  all,  but  can  only  be  thought  i^ut. 
The  generalised  image  of  a  dog  may  be  any  species  of 
dog,  but  it  can  be  of  only  one  species;  it  may  have  any 
colour  I  please  (consistent  with  the  possibiUties  of  dog 
nature),  but  it  must  have  some  odour;  and  so  on.  The 
eonf^tual  dog  has  all  the  qualities  that  are  essential 
toalldofs:  it  must  have  four  legs,  ft  tail,  two  «yeB,  hair, 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


S7 


and  so  forth;  it  must  have  colour,  but  no  special  colour; 
must  have  size  and  weight,  but  no  fixed  size  and  weight. 
Thus  the  concept  gains  in  generality  what  it  loses  in 
definiteness. 

Even  in  r^uling  about  the  coneq>t  one  gets  irritated 
at  its  extreme  elusiveness,  and  in  actual  experience 
people  fall  back  in  despair  upon  the  generalised  image 
and  do  their  thinking  by  means  of  that.  We  shall 
see  later  that  some  writers  object  very  much  to  this 
more  or  leas  pictorial  thinking,  and  oortidnly  it  has  some 
disadvanta^.  We  must  not  give  up  the  freed<mi 
of  thought  that  comes  from  the  extreme  generality 
of  the  concept,  but  on  the  other  hand  we  need  the  sup- 
port of  the  generalised  image  to  assist  the  mind  in 
dealing  vith  concepts.  When  we  use  the  generalised 
image,  we  are  really  thinking  of  "dog  in  gmml," 
but  by  means  of  a  concrete  partieular  dog  —  thoi^ 
whick  particular  dog  is  irrelevant. 

The  question  may  now  be  asked  whether  the  inner 
world  is  made  up  of  concepts  or  images.  It  would 
appear  tiiat  there  is  ro(nn  for  nothing  but  ima|^. 
How  can  one  omsiruct  a  world  in  which  tables  are  not 
allowed  to  be  any  particular  kind  of  tables,  but  only 
tables  in  general,  that  can  be  thought  about  but  not 
represented  ?  This  difficulty  brings  out  the  distinction 
between  the  static  and  the  dynamic  view  of  the  concept. 
Each  of  the  views  is  sound  tiMmgh  eadi  emphnrises 
a  different  aspect. 

The  static  view  of  the  inner  world  is  that  it  is  made 
up  of  a  great  mass  of  more  or  less  attenuated  represen- 
tations of  "things,"  all  arranged  so  as  to  fit  into  each 
otiMr's  qualitiea  and  ponticms.  But  nieh  a  work!  ia 
inert,  dead    It  eodato  ooly  to  be  «**ftTOfw*^  hf  loi^eal 


68  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUStRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

persons  who  are  concerned  about  definition  and  classi- 
fication. For  the  ordinary  needs  of  life  there  must  be 
the  possibility  of  interaction  among  the  elements  that 
make  up  the  mner  world.  It  is  here  that  the  dynamic 
view  has  the  advantage.  The  concept  of  a  table  is  no 
longer  to  be  treated  as  a  mere  group  of  the  essential 
qualities  of  a  table,  but  as  a  force  determining  particu- 
lar lines  of  action.  If  you  ask  an  ordinary  intelligent 
person  what  a  table  ib,  you  will  probably  find  that  he 
has  some  little  difficiilty  in  saying  precisely.  Does 
this  mean  that  because  he  cannot  define  a  table  he  does 
not  know  what  a  table  is  ?  Assuredly  not.  He  is  able 
to  behave  intelligently  in  relation  to  tables.  To  under- 
stand a  term  it  is  not  necessary  that  one  should  be  able 
to  define  it. 

Definition  has  no  doubt  its  prop^  place.  The 
moment  we  need  to  discriminate  carefully  between 
different  terms,  we  have  to  define  them  more  or  less 
accurately,  and  more  or  less  consciously.  But  we  must 
not  let  the  definition  dominate  us.  If  we  are  asked: 
what  is  chalk?  we  may  turn  to  the  dictionary  and  find 
that  it  is  "a  soft  earthy  substance  of  a  white,  grayish, 
or  yellowish  white  colour,"  etc.,  or  we  may  simply  say: 
it  is  something  to  write  on  a  blackboard  with,  or  to  im- 
prove the  head  of  a  billiard  cue  with,  or  to  make  car- 
bonic add  out  of.  Some  are  inclined  to  say  that  these 
are  purposes  to  which  chalk  can  be  applied,  but  that 
they  do  not  tell  us  what  it  is.  Chalk,  they  say,  is  a 
chemical  compound  represented  by  the  formula  CaCO,, 
that  and  nothing  else.  But  chalk  is  as  much  a  thing  to 
write  with  as  it  is  a  chonical  compound.  This  is  a 
world  in  which  we  react  upon  chalk  in  various  ways, 
one  of  tLem  being  a  chemical  way;  but  (his  way  it  no 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


more  fundamental  Uian  the  otiiero.  We  must  remember 
that  classification  is  of  the  mind  and  not  of  the  world. 
We  find  it  necessary  for  our  human  needs  to  classify 
objects,  but  this  is  for  our  convenience,  and  is  not  at 
all  binding  upon  nature.  Among  young  students  there 
is  sometimes  a  certain  impatience  with  Nature.  They 
get  their  carefully  prepared  classificatifm  in  books,  and 
are  not  a  little  indignant  with  Nature  when  she  does 
not  see  her  way  to  fit  into  the  arrangement  in  every 
case.  For  example,  there  is  a  troublesome  little  Aus- 
tralian mammal,  called  the  omithorhynchua  anatinua, 
that  is  the  despair  of  the  taxonomist.  It  is  a  web- 
footed  quadruped,  with  a  bill  like  a  duck  ;  and  it  lays 
eggs  like  a  bird  or  reptile.  There  is  no  place  for  this 
creature  in  any  of  the  recognised  classes,  and  to  make 
a  new  class  for  it  by  itself  is  extremely  disconcerting. 
There  is  a  toudi  of  ranonstaranee  even  in  the  state- 
loient  oi  the  sober  taimmmist:  — 

"Hie  lowert  order  of  the  Mammalia  is  that  of  the  MotuOremata, 
constitutiiig  by  i. jelf  the  divbion,  Omithodelphia,  and  containing 
only  two  genera,  both  belonging  to  Australia  —  namely,  the  Omitho- 
riiynduM  and  the  Echidiui."  * 

This  is  not  the  place  to  show  the  vahie     sudi  a 

hybrid  specimen  in  leading  us  to  discover  the  real 
nature  of  the  different  classes  to  which  it  might  claim 
doubtful  admission,  and  especially  in  making  clear  the 
relation  between  these  classes.  What  is  more  germane 
to  our  subject  is  tiie  qiMsdcm  of  whalt  place  is  to  be 
foi>  <^  in  the  mental  content  for  such  exceptional  cases. 

'  out  of  the  well-known  bird  and  reptile  classes 
ai.  thrust  into  a  little  class  of  its  own,  the  omitho- 
rhynchus  is  still  intelligible  to  us ;  we  at  least  know  what 

*  H.  A.  Nkhdeoa :  Manml  qf  Zodlogy,  p.  630. 


60   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

wr>  mean  in  speaking  of  it.  Everyone  who  has  read  this 
chapter  thus  far  has  formed  some  sort  of  idea  of  the 
creature,  and  there  are  as  many  ideas  of  tl^  omitho- 
rhynchus  as  there  are  people  who  use  the  term.  If  the 
reader  examines  his  idea,  he  will  find  that  it  is  modified 
by  what  he  knows  about  Australia,  about  ducks,  about 
bills,  about  manunals,  quadrupeds,  eggs,  birds,  reptiles, 
and  even  Greek. 

In  spite  of  all  such  troublesome  exceptions  there  is  a 
use  for  the  exact  classification  that  admits  of  no  deviar 
tion  from  the  strict  marks  that  distinguish  each  group. 
Classification  is  of  the  mind,  and  so  is  the  idea  of  the 
unclassifiable  omithorhynchus.  But  each  represents 
a  different  department  of  mental  activity.  The  limita- 
tions imposed  by  the  laws  of  classification  are  logical; 
the  additional  materials  supplied  from  individual  ex- 
perience of  exceptions  to  those  laws  have  to  be  dealt 
with  as  psychological  units. 

In  the  next  chapter  ideas  will  be  treated  as  active. 
Here  it  will  be  enough  to  deal  with  them  as  the  dements 
out  of  which  certain  combinations  are  to  be  formed. 
In  Exposition  the  teacher  has  already  in  his  mind  a 
certain  more  or  less  elaborate  combination  of  ideas, 
forming  the  expositandum.  The  pupil  may  have  all 
the  necessary  ideas  lying  about  loose,  as  it  were.  It  is, 
then,  the  teacher's  business  to  build  up  those  ideas 
in  the  pupil's  mind  into  the  desired  whole.  It  may  be 
(in  fact,  this  is  the  ordinary  case)  that  the  pupil  has  only 
certain  of  the  needful  ideas  at  his  disposal.  In  this 
case  the  teachor  has  to  present  the  necessary  new  ideas 
as  well  as  to  arrange  the  ideas  at  present  possessed  by 
the  pupil. 

Exposition  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  essentially 


MENTAL  CONT£>r< 


61 


a  oonitruetive  proeem,  and  vander  ideal  oonditioiis  it 

need  never  be  destructive.  In  building  up  knowledge, 
fact  should  be  added  to  fact  in  such  a  way  that  it  is 
never  necessary  to  undo  what  has  been  done.  A  com- 
bination of  ideas  once  formed  should  be  for  all  time. 
Something  approaching  this  ideal  state  of  affairs  may 
be  reached  in  the  case  of  subjects  tliat  are  removed  from 
the  ordinary  interests  if  everyday  life.  In  certain 
branches  of  Mathematics,  and  in  the  higher  reaches  of 
many  of  the  other  school  subjects,  it  is  possible  for  the 
teacher  so  to  dominate  the  presentation  of  entirely 
fresh  matter  that  each  new  fact  falls  exacUy  into  its 
appropriate  place.  In  teaching  Latin,  fcnr  examjde, 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  master  from  deliberately 
determining  beforehand  the  exact  order  in  which  the 
various  points  shall  be  presented  to  the  pupil.  Yet 
even  irhea,  as  in  this  case,  the  arrangement  of  the  pres- 
entation is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  twcher,  it  some- 
times occurs  that  in  order  to  give  complete  undostand- 
ing  of  a  given  fact  two  other  facts  must  be  presented 
simultaneously.  Neither  without  the  other  will  be 
capable  of  throwing  light  upon  the  point  to  be  explained, 
and  since  in  actual  practice  one  must  precede  the  oth«r, 
it  is  occasionally  necessary  to  present  one  becMise,  on 
the  whole,  it  is  somewhat  more  relevant  than  the  othet, 
and  yet  the  fact  that  has  lost  precedence  may  in  cer- 
tain respects  deserve  to  come  first. 

Apart  fnnn  this  difficulty  that  is  inherent  in  the  na- 
ture of  things,  thwe  is  the  evor  {nresent  trouble  that  we 
can  in  almost  no  case  start  quite  fair.  We  have  very 
seldom  indeed  the  clean  sheet  that  ideal  exposition 
demands.  Our  pupils  generally  come  to  us  with  their 
mental  content  already  fixed  with  regard  to  many  of 


62   EXPOSITION  AKD  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINO 

the  matters  we  have  to  deal  with.  Accordmgly  we 
caniurt  limit  ourselves  to  the  building  up  of  new  wholes 
out  of  entiiily  tmik  dtmmiu.  Our  elements  are  not 
fresh,  and  there  are  wholes  already  in  existence. 

Thus  it  comes  about  that  there  is  a  destructive  as 
well  as  a  constructive  stage  in  Exposition.  When  the 
existing  combination  of  ideas  is  M>t  to  our  satisfaction, 
we  nmst  dcBM&iiilMwe  we  cm  begin  to  reconstruct 
it  in  tlie  way  we  dbase.  We  are  lA  familiar  witJi  wint 
taiKS  place  when  a  pupil  changes  from  one  teacher  of 
the  violin  to  another.  Almost  invariably  the  mast» 
is  determined  to  have  his  style  of  execution  adopted, 
aad  in  order  to  secure  this  insists  upon  his  pupil  begin- 
nmg  again  at  the  very  b^;inning.  Wh^  the  violinist 
turns  back  his  pupil  in  this  way,  his  idea  is  to  break  up 
the  previously  formed  coordination  of  muscular  actions, 
and  establish  in  its  place  a  coordination  that  will  fit 
in  with  the  later  complex  movements  demanded  by 
the  approved  «teeution.  In  ordinary  exposition  it  is 
sddom  that  we  require  to  cany  destructive  work  so  far. 
It  is  usually  unnecessary  to  reduce  a  given  combination 
to  its  elements  in  order  to  correct  some  false  colloca- 
tion. The  pupil  may  have  the  view  that  the  further 
south  one  goes  the  warmer  it  becomes.  All  his  ex- 
perience warrants  hnn  in  maintuning  this  view,  and 
he  holds  it  with  some  vigour.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary 
that  the  complex  that  corresponds  to  "south"  in  his 
mind  should  be  reduced  to  its  elements  and  painfully 
reconstructed  on  correct  lines.  All  that  is  necessary 
is  to  up  the  existing  unwarrantable  connection 
between  soutli  and  increaedi^;  t^perature.  To  the 
pupil  80tUh  still  remains  south  in  every  other  attribute, 
iMit  the  new  etenoit  ai  rdativity  is  introduced,  and  tbe 


MENTAL  CONTENT 


63 


pupil  learns  that  while  moving  to  the  south  always  in- 
volves change  of  average  temperature,  it  does  not  al- 
ways involve  the  same  kind  of  change.  In  ordinary 
exposition  it  is  usually  sufficknt  to  stop  far  sh ;  cf 
ultimate  analysis,  and  to  begin  the  reconstruetiv!  r  v 
cess  with  units  that  are  not  nearly  the  lowest  possibie. 

Fiuther,  it  has  to  be  noted  that  the  destructive  pro- 
cess may  be  necessary,  not  because  the  combination  is  in 
itself  objectionable,  but  because  there  is  a  need  for  the 
donents  of  which  it  is  composed,  in  order  to  build  up 
a  new  complex.  In  a  given  combination  certain  ele- 
ments become  so  firmly  welded  together  that  their 
individual  existence  is  overlooked,  and  it  becomes  the 
teacher's  business  to  break  up  the  fixed  combination 
so  that  the  ekments  may  beeome  available  in  otiier 
connections. 

In  the  ultimate  resort,  however.  Exposition  as  Ex- 
position is  a  process  of  building  up.  The  destructive 
process  is  no  doubt  important,  and  indeed  essential, 
but  it  is  none  the  less  merely  preparatory  to  the  real 
work  of  ExposiMon  ^lieh  is  eoostmetive.  Learning 
a  subject  means  really  the  building  up  of  various  kteas 
into  an  organised  whole  in  which  each  finds  its  appro- 
priate place.  Ideas  in  this  sense  must  be  regarded  as 
representing  activities.  It  is  only  when  fact  has  be- 
come faculty  that  we  have  really  learned. 

It  is  clear  that  when  we  speak  of  a  comlKmatMm  (tf 
mental  elements,  we  give  no  indication  of  the  extent  to 
which  the  combination  is  carried.  In  Exposition  we 
have  frequently  to  seek  out  simpler  ideas  in  order  to 
explain  tiboee  tiiat  are  more  complex.  The  unit  of 
Exposition  ihatian  heeomtB  bapattmt,  NatmaUy 
the  ultimate  vaakk  m  tbe  indiv&iiial  idea.   1^  k 


64   EXPOSITION  AND  ILUJ8TRATI0N  IN  TBACHINO 

practice  the  simple  individual  idea  is  found  to  be  very 
difficijUt  to  sqMurate  out  and  manipulate.  It  has  always 
a  strong  tendency  to  take  to  itself  other  elements  and 

appear  as  a  complex.  In  what  are  called  "Object 
Lessons"  in  school  there  is  a  strong  tendency  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher  to  wander  into  an  explanation  of  the 
qualities  of  objects,  and  to  lose  sight  of  the  object  itself. 
The  tMch^  yields  to  the  lust  of  analyaa.  Whatever 
the  subject,  the  lesson  is  apt  to  drift  into  a  discussion 
of  the  meaning  of  such  terms  as  opaque^  brittle,  elastic, 
fluid,  friable,  metallic.  But  while  the  teacher's  ten- 
dency is  thus  towards  abstraction,  the  pupils  are  in- 
clined the  other  way,  and  are  found  to  be  continually 
interpreting  the  abstract  terms  in  connection  with  con-; 
Crete  objects.  When  the  teacher  wishes  to  elicit  the 
idea  of  whiteness,  he  gets  from  the  pupil  the  amwer 
chalk.  "WTiat  do  you  mean  by  brittle?"  asks  che 
teacher,  and  the  natural  answer  is  glaas. 

The  unit  of  exposition  must  naturally  vary  witii  the 
stage  of  advancement  of  the  pupil.  As  we  progress  in  a 
subject  the  unit  naturally  grows  bigger.  Very  many 
errors  in  exposition  arise  from  using  a  bigger  unit  than 
the  state  of  advancement  of  the  pupils  warrants. 


CHAPTER  m 
Mental  Activity 


Tn  Laws  of  Thoui^t  m  Thougjbt  are  purely  general 
and  abstract.  They  take  no  account  of  the  material 
upon  which  the  mind  acts.  Yet  this  material  is  of  the 
very  essence  of  Exposition.  We  have  seen  that  under 
certain  reservations  we  may  regard  ideas  as  the  material 
upon  which  the  mind  operates.  This  is  their  passive 
aspect.  Ideas  in  tiiis  rdaU<m  are  r^^arded  as  tiie  men 
furniture  of  the  mind,  its  stock  in  trade,  its  acquired 
possessions.  So  treated  th^  are  termed  "preeeiited 
content." 

Ideas  are  also  said  to  possess  a  certain  degree  of 
"Presentative  activity,"  which  may  be  generally  de- 
fined as  the  power  to  force  an  admisdon  into  oonseiouB- 
ness.  Every  idea  that  has  ever  been  in  consciousness 
has  by  that  very  fact  acquired  a  certain  degree  of  this 
activity,  and  this  amount  is  increased  every  time  the 
idea  finds  its  way  back  into  consciousness.  It  is  con- 
cdvable  tihat  at  a  given  moment  tiie  piesaitative  ac- 
tivity of  every  idea  that  has  ever  passed  through  a  given 
mind  should  be  tested  and  registered.  If  this  practically 
impossible  feat  could  be  accomplished,  we  would  have  a 
systematic  arrangement  of  ideas  in  order  of  their  accu- 
mulated |»esentativ8  activity  for  tiiat  mind.  Now  it 
is  clear  that  if  this  state  of  affairs  represented  the  whde 
truth,  only  a  few  ideas  would  wet  get  into  the  mind  at 
r  es 


W  IXPOSITIOir  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


all,  unlebs  it  were  able  to  take  in  an  unlimited  number 
of  idM8  at  s  time.  For  naturally  those  with  the  great- 
est presentative  activity  would  force  tlMir  way  into  tlie 
mind  and  would  resist  all  the  attempts  of  the  less  power- 
ful ideas  to  dislodge  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, ideas  with  comparatively  little  accumulated  pre- 
sentative activity  may  acquire  a  temporary  power 
fufBdoit  to  dislodge  for  tiie  mcmeDt  all  othen.  Sup- 
pose we  are  studying  Shakeqieare.  The  ideas  called 
up  by  his  plays  have  in  the  course  of  time  acquired  a 
great  accumulation  of  presentative  activity.  Yet  at 
the  moment  of  our  most  intense  study  of  As  You  Like 
It  a  suddra  street  call  may  displace  Rosalind  and 
Oriando  from  our  thoughts  in  favour  of  shrimps  or  oat's 
meat.  To  be  sure  the  Shakespearian  ideas  immediatdy 
resume  their  place  in  virtue  of  their  greater  accumu- 
lated activity  as  individual  ideas,  and  also  because  of 
the  support  they  give  to  one  another  as  parts  of  an 
organised  group. 

For  ideas  do  not  remain  in  the  consciousness  as  iso- 
lated units.  They  are  always  bound  more  or  less 
closely  to  the  other  ideas  that  happen  to  be  present  in 
the  consciousness  with  them.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible 
to  say  how  many  ideas  may  be  in  the  consciousness  at 
any  one  time.  The  numbor  must  vary  greatly  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  concentration  that  marks  the 
moment.  It  may  be  said  that  if  there  are  one  or  two 
particularly  active  ideas  in  the  mind,  there  is  no  room 
for  any  others.  The  same  fact  may  be  more  truly  ej:- 
pressed  by  saying  that  the  consdcnisness  is  8(»netimes 
conoei^rated  on  a  few  points  and  sometimes  spread  ov«r 
a  large  number.  Except  in  pathological  cases  there 
are  always  more  than  one  idea  present  in  the  consciou»- 


MENTAL  ACnVIlT 


91 


ness,  and  in  normal  cases  there  is  usually  a  more  or  less 
uniform  distribution  of  the  available  consciousness 
among  the  ideas  presented.  It  is  common  to  speak  of 
the  "field  of  conseioumess "  as  representing  tiie  Me* 
within  which  ideas  are  active.  This  fi^  is  often  re- 
garded as  being  round,  perhaps  from  a  more  or  less  con- 
scious comparison  with  the  field  of  vision  as  dealt  with 
in  linear  perspective,  where  it  is  represented  by  the  base 
of  the  cone  of  visual  rays.  ITHthin  thki  field  some  of  the 
ideas  appeal  to  us  at  a  givm  mommt  much  more  than 
do  others.  We  figure  those  ideas  to  ourselves  as  oc- 
cupying the  centre  of  the  field,  and  therefore  we  call 
them  focal.  Those  somewhat  removed  from  the  centre 
may  be  called  subfocal,  those  near  the  circumference 
submarginal,  and  those  on  the  drcumf efenoe  marginal. 
The  nearer  an  idea  is  to  the  centre,  the  greater  its  share 
of  consciousness.  It  is  obvious  that  the  same  fact  may 
be  expressed  by  saying  that  the  ideas  with  the  strongest 
presentative  activity  occupy  the  centre,  and  those  of 
less  activity  have  to  cont«it  tl^nselvra  with  a  place  in 
the  subfocal,  submarpnal,  or  marginal  area,  la  ti^es 
words  we  may  speak  literally  of  the  distribution  of  con- 
sciousness, or  metaphorically  of  the  activity  of  the  iueas. 

In  order  to  mako  this  figure  workable  it  is  probably 
necessary  to  assume  that  the  field  of  consciousness  is 
capaMe  of  more  or  less  rapid  change  of  area.  Some- 
times it  is  very  small  and  contains  only  a  few  ideas. 
Under  such  circumstances  the  distinction  between  focal 
and  marginal  almost  disappears;  the  few  ideas  present 
are  practically  all  focal.  At  other  times  the  area  is 
wide,  and  the  numbor  of  ideas  C(»Teq)ondingly  in- 
creased. Here  the  focal  ideas  are  not  so  intense,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  smaller  fidd,  but  they  are  much  more 


68  BZFOtlTIOir  AHD  ILLU8TRATI01f  IN  TIAOHUfO 

inteoM  than  are  those  in  the  outlying  regions.  We  have 
to  Mstiine  that  the  total  unount  d  eoniciouiaeis  avail- 
able at  a  given  moment  is  limited,  and  that  therefore 

the  problem  is  largely  one  of  distribution. 

There  is  danger  of  overrigidity  in  the  figure.  No 
exact  line  of  demarcation  can  be  drawn  between  focal 
and  rabfooal  near  the  centre,  and  none  between  mar- 
ginal and  mbmarginal  near  the  oiroumference.  The 
figure  of  the  field  has  the  advantage  that  it  renders 
impossible  the  older  view  that  really  implied  that  only 
one  idea  at  a  time  passed  through  the  consciousness. 
In  psychology  it  is  frequently  necessary  to  correct  one 
metaphor  by  means  of  another.  The  "field  of  con- 
sciousness" figure  corrects  the  old  linear  view  that  con- 
fined itself  to  the  seriatim  procession  of  the  foeal  ideas, 
but  in  its  turn  errs  by  confining  itself  to  one  plane. 
Professor  James's  >  figure  of  the  "stream  of  conscious- 
ness" or  the  "b«ream  of  thought"  with  hi«;  various 
graphic  illustration  '.uphasises  the  element  of  Kwiy  or 
mass  in  our  mental  content.   It  has  the  further  advan- 
tage of  indicating  a  procession  of  force  as  well  as  mate- 
rial.   In  the  field  figure  there  is  merely  the  suggestion  of 
a  place  where  the  ideas  may  disport  themselves.  The 
stream  figure,  by  its  very  nature,  implies  the  crowding 
in  of  new  matter  and  the  passing  away  of  old.  Nat- 
urally the  figure  must  not  be  too  closely  pressed,  for 
in  thought  there  is  usually  a  core  of  preferred  ideas  that 
retain  their  place  in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  while 
a  great  body  of  ideas  pass  rapidly  along  at  the  margins; 
whereas  in  a  real  river  the  (^spoite  is  the  ease,  for  the 
water  in  the  middle  moves  more  nqmUy  than  ^  water 
at  the  margins. 

•  Prineipl»$  ^  Ptyehology,  Vol.  I,  p.  278  IT. 


MWTAL  ACTIVITY 


60 


It  will  probably  be  well  now  to  pass  on  to  a  more 
fMMnl  •tataoMBt  of  the  eaae  in  less  figurative  tarms. 
Tlw  word  cottHnuMm  it  beeoming  more  and  more  pop- 
ular as  a  term  to  describe  the  mental  eontent  at  any 

given  moment.   The  word  indicates  a  great  mass  of 
ideas  held  before  the  mind;  but  the  ideas  are  not  re- 
garded as  lyin,  loose,  they  are  bound  to  one  another, 
they  form  a  mere  or  leas  homogeiieoua  whole.  The 
binding  force  may  be  said  to  be  a  common  purpose  or 
a  commcn  interest.   The  purposive  interest  that  dom- 
inates the  contiiiuum  may  be  concentrated,  and  may 
tend  therefore  to  limit  the  number  of  elements;  or 
it  may  be  diffuMd,  and  may  take  in  a  large  number  of 
etanents.  But  whether  the  deme&te  of  a  eontinuum 
are  few  or  many,  they  never  remain  long  fixed  in  the 
same  relation  to  one  another.    Constant  change  is  of 
the  essence  of  tue  continuum.   There  is  a  continuous 
eaadng  and  going  of  » i  ntai  elements.   When  we  are 
thinking  eteaxfily  on  a  .  ^  >.  /nibjert,  the  eoie  of  the 
continuum  will  be  fa.  '    ,  ,^<,  in  proportion  to  the 
whole,  and  will  remain  h.  ,:y  -  iistant;  whereas  it  easy 
general  talk,  or  in  attending  to  the  details  of  r  iir,.ry 
Hfe,  the  continuum  is  liable  to  violent  change*,  in  its 
dementa,  and  the  eort  »  reetiieted  to  that  minimum 
of  ccnnmon  elemmts  tiiirt  entniree  the  prej^torvs^n  of 
our  sense  of  identity. 

We  have  treated  the  elemeut:s  that  form  a  contmuum 
as  if  they  were  separate  from  each  other.  No  doubt 
in  ultimate  analyais  the  eontents  cf  any  continuum 
could  thus  be  reduced  to  fed^endent  e1f«menta!  units; 
but  in  p.'-actice  it  is  found  that  ideas  Lave  a  tendency 
to  group  themselves.  Under  identical  circumstances 
in  the  experience  of  the  same  individual  certain  eon- 


70   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

tinuums  are  likely  to  have  almost  identical  content. 

But  even  in  a  continuum  that  has  never  before  invaded 
consciousness  it  will  be  found  that  its  elements  are  more 
or  less  definitely  arranged  in  groups.  These  groups  of 
ideas,  sometimes  known  as  apperception  masses,  have 
been  formed  by  the  co-presmtation  in  consdousnesK 
oi  the  ideas  in  question.  They  must  therefore  have 
formed  part  of  previous  continuums,  though  their  ac- 
companiments in  any  two  of  these  continuums  may 
never  have  been  the  same.  In  considering  how  these 
groups  have  been  formed  it  will  be  well  in  the  first  place 
to  begin  from  the  side  of  the  mind  rather  than  from 
that  of  the  idea,  in  order  to  counteract  the  tendency  to 
regard  the  ideas  as  things  independent  of  the  mind. 
After  the  mental  activity  has  been  acknowledged  there 
will  be  less  harm  in  working  out  the  attractive  mechan- 
ism of  apperception  in  terms  of  id^. 

In  the  older  fashioned  theories  of  the  Association  of 
Ideas  certain  general  principles  were  laid  down  that 
were  useful  enough  so  far  as  they  went.  But  even 
when  they  were  gathered  up  into  one  generalisation,  as 
in  Sk  William  Hamilton's  Redintegration,*  ihey  gave 
little  in  the  way  of  explaining  the  building  up  of 
great  groups  of  ideas,  though  they  certainly  explained 
very  ingeniously  many  mental  phenomena  after  they 
had  occurred.  Fr.  Paulhan,  in  his  L'Activite  Mentale, 
works  out  a  more  active  system  of  association  which 
ultimately  resolves  itself  into  two  great  laws  —  a  posi- 
tive and  a  negative.  The  positive  law  he  calls  thii  law 
of  systematic  association.   It  runs:  — 

"Every  psychical  fact  tends  to  associate  to  itself,  and  cause  to 
develop,  the  psychical  facts  which  may  harmonise  with  it,  which 

'  Lutuna  on  Metapkyaiea,  Lecture  XXXII,  p.  238. 


MENTAL  ACmvITY  7| 

may  sHye  with  it  towards  a  oomnion  god  or  for  oomplementaiy 
ends,  which,  along  with  it,  may  be  able  to  form  a  syBtem."  • 

The  negative  law  deals  with  inhibitkm  or  amil:  — 

"Every  psychical  phenomenon  tends  to  prevent  the  production 
or  development,  or  to  cause  the  disappearance,  of  psychical  phe- 
nomena which  cannot  be  united  to  it«slf  aooording  to  the  of  sys- 
tematic association;  that  k  to  aay,whieh  cannot  be  united  with  H 

for  a  common  end." » 


These  two  laws,  working  under  the  impulse  of  purpose, 
secure  that  the  various  modes  of  being  conscious  that 
are  of  special  value  to  the  nund  shaU  recur  with  suffi- 
cient frequency  to  establidi  an  ease  in  ranstating  them- 
selves whenever  they  are  called  for,  and  we  have  thus 
the  beginmng  of  the  activity  that  results  in  the  organi- 
sation of  the  mental  processes  in  relation  to  the  mental 
content.  What  we  cah  organised  groups  of  ideas  or 
appercq)tion  masses  may,  from  another  point  of  view, 
be  regarded  as  organised  modes  of  being  conscious. 

Treatmg  the  matter  now  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  ideas,  it  is  to  bf  noticed  that  the  two  most  important 
tews  correspond  in  general  with  those  of  Paulhan 
Ideas  that  are  caUed  contrary  ideas,  that  is,  ideas  that 
bdong  to  the  same  category  but  diffw  within  that  cate- 
gory (such  as  blue,  green,  and  yellow,  which  come  under 
the  same  category  of  colour,  but  diflfer  masmuchat  they 
are  different  colours),  arrest  one  another.   This  means 
tb&t  in  the  competition  to  enter  consciousness  contrary 
Ideas  oppose  each  other,  do  everything  they  can  to  eject 
each  othor,  and  finaUy  as  the  result  of  the  strife  one  ot 
other  succeeds  in  effecting  an  entrance  and  in  expeOing 
the  other.   It  may  be  objected  that  two  contrary  ideas 
may  occupy  the  consciousness  at  the  same  time.  We 

•  L'AeHHU  MentaU,  p.  88.  i  /6id.,  p.  221. 


72    EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

amy  think  of  a  geranium  with  green  leaves  and  red 
petals.  But  here  the  ideas  of  red  and  green  are  not 
treated  by  the  mind  as  mere  colours,  but  only  as  aspects 
of  a  whole.  We  think  of  a  geranium  in  fact,  not  of  red 
and  grera.  This  brings  out  tlie  dutinctitM  betwem 
the  having  of  an  idea  and  che  realising  of  that  idea. 
When  we  merely  have  an  idea,  or  admit  an  idea  to  the 
mind,  we  treat  it  as  a  more  or  less  representative  ele- 
ment that  embodies  a  meaning  or  is  significant  of 
something  else.  To  realise  tlie  idea  of  red  we  must 
concentrate  upon  it  all  the  forces  that  are  appropriate 
to  an  idea  of  colour,  and  in  so  doing  we  are  drawing  oflf 
all  the  force  that  might  otherwise  have  been  concen- 
trated upon  green  or  some  other  colour.  In  so  far  then 
as  red  and  green  as  colours  both  retain  their  place  in 
coiwciousness,  ndther  is  fuUy  realised,  and  thor 
relation  to  each  other,  and  to  the  mind  in  which  they 
are  found,  is  one  of  unstable  equilibrium,  the  force 
of  each  being  spent  in  trying  to  further  its  own  fuller 
development,  and  to  eject  the  other  from  conscious- 
ness. 

The  law  of  systemattc  asBoeifttio&,  on  the  othw  hand, 
applies  to  those  ideas  that  are  known  as  disparate. 
These  ideas  have  no  inherent  relation  to  each  other; 
they  do  not  belong  to  the  same  category,  and  so  can  be 
formed  into  any  sort  of  complexes  that  circumstances 
may  favour.  There  is  no  inherent  connection,  so  far  as 
we  know,  between  a  grey  overcoat,  a  white  horse,  and 
Napoleon  I,'  yet  by  the  actual  collocation  of  these  ideas 
in  history  they  form  a  complex  that  has  a  certain  sta- 
bility of  its  own.   Taking  that  overworked  example 

'  If  we  could  view  these  elements  tub  specie  aternitatis,  no  doubt 
wo  eoold  diMover  a  ntfteirat  osum  tot  thirfr  ecriloe»tioii. 


78 


of  the  psychologists,  the  orange,  we  find  that  its  quali- 
ties are  grouped  together  in  tbe  same  way.  All  the 
ordinary  complexes  ol  file  are  bvilt  up  in  ■nmi  iini  ii 

with  the  law  of  systematic  association,  or  the  law 
of  complication,  as  it  may  be  called,  when  regarded 
from  the  point  of  view  of  .the  ideas  rather  than  of  the 
mind. 

Besides  the  two  forces  of  eompUeation  and  aneet 

there  is  a  third  that  has  to  be  taken  into  aoeount  m 
connection  with  the  interaction  of  ideas.   This  is 
known  as  fusion.    When  an  idea  recurs  m  the  mind 
it  fuses  with  the  traces  it  left  at  its  previous  visit. 
It  ii  by  this  force  of  fusion  that  our  elementary  ideas 
acquire  the  stability  that  is  so  necessary  as  a  found»- 
tion  for  the  whole  superstructure  of  ideas.    In  the 
case  of  two  complexes  being  brought  into  conscious- 
ness together,  all  the  similar  elements  in  the  two  fuse, 
all  the  disparate  elements  proceed  to  form  a  new  and 
more  elaborate  complex,  while  the  contrary  ideas 
arrest  each  other.   It  must  not  be  supposed  that 
fusion  is  limited  to  the  substantive  elements  of  thou^t. 
Similar  relations  that  recur  fuse  as  to  theu-  common 
elements,  and  strengthen  the  idea  of  their  particular 
class  of  rdatiim.  The  compelling  power  of  analogy 
owes  much  to  hmcm. 

Fusion  is  always  at  work  in  the  mind.  For  the  com- 
mon elements  in  the  different  groups  strengthen  each 
other  as  elements,  every  time  they  appear  in  conscious- 
ness. Two  ideas  that  are  contrary  to  each  other,  and 
theref<nre  seek  to  arrest  each  other,  still  so  react  upon 
the  rest  of  the  mental  content  that  by  fusmg  with  rim- 
ilar  elements  in  that  content  they  really  acquire  each 
a  little  more  strength;  that  is,  increase  thev  aceuittii- 


74   EXPOSITION  Aim  JLLVSnumOH  IN  TBACBING 


lated  presratstive  activity,  eyen  wiale  bemg  driven  out 
of  eonseioiunesB  for  the  maBnent  fay  a  stiuuger  rival. 

Complication  is  obviouriy  the  converse  of  analy^l". 
After  we  have  broken  up  one  group  of  ideas  in  order  to 
reconstruct  the  elements  into  another,  the  rebuilding 
is  largely  a  matter  of  compUcation.  Naturally  fusion 
is  going  on  parallel  mth  cowpBdrtion;  for  aH  tiie  de- 
mei^  eomnon  to  the  two  groupe,  instead  of  forming  a 
complex,  merely  go  to  strengthen  each  other.  But 
arrest  is  also  present  in  complication.  Its  main  work 
in  forming  new  groups  is  to  prevent  the  accumulation 
of  unnecessary  details. 

Every  idea  seeks  to  introduce  iato  eonsciouaaess  all 
the  other  ideas  with  which  it  has  formed  connections. 
An  idea  therefore  that  forms  a  part  of  many  apper- 
ception masses  has  a  dangerous  tendency  to  recall  too 
many  ideas  with  which  it  is  allied  in  different  groups. 
Of  the  ideas  thus  invited  into  the  consdousness  some 
set  up  a  ]»oee88  of  fusion,  and  others  of  oconplication, 
but  a  large  number  are  cut  off  by  the  process  of  arrest. 
If  it  were  not  so,  thinking  would  become  impossible. 
The  mind  would  be  smothered  under  the  crowd  of 
ideas. 

E»|Mwillon  consists  fundammitdly  of  the  establidi- 

meat  of  new  combinations  of  ideas,  or  of  the  making 
clear  and  strong  combinations  that  at  present  exist  in  a 
vague  and  feeble  way.  To  give  the  new  combinations 
strength  we  must  have  as  great  an  amount  of  fusion  as 
is  poanye  vmdet  the  circumstances.  Richness  and 
Wobilli  depend  upon  complication.  Clearness  and 
definrteness  are  gained  by  arrest.  That  all  three  pro- 
cesses may  produce  their  best  results  there  must  be  many 
presentations  of  ideas  and  idea  groups.   But  this  is 


mtNTAL  ACnVITY 


75 


largely  the  work  of  Illustration,  and  wiU  be  dealt  with 
in  later  chapters. 

In  addition  to  the  Laws  of  Thought  as  Thought  and 
the  various  laws  of  association  with  which  we  have 

dealt,  there  is  another  law  of  greater  generality  and  of 
fundamental  importance  in  the  art  of  Exposition. 
It  is,  in  fact,  the  ultimate  impulse  to  mental  activity, 
the  equivalent  in  the  mind  to  gravitation  in  the  mate^ 
rial  worid.   It  may  be  called  the  Law  of  Mental  Har- 
mony.   The  ideas  withm  the  mind  must  be  at  peace 
with  each  other.    The  moment  friction  arises  there 
must  be  ceaseless  activity  till  the  disagreement  is 
removed.   Consistency  among  the  ideas  is  an  essential 
to  mind.  All  the  mmtal  content  must  be  harmonised ; 
there  must  be  no  contradicticm  in  the  anangemeirt 
that  has  been  imposed  upon  the  ideas.   It  doeenot,  of 
course,  follow  that  each  mind  must  be  able  to  resolve 
all  tho  contradictions  that  occm  in  the  course  of 
thought,  but  the  mind  must  try  to  reconcile  them. 
This  is  of  its  very  nature,  and  the  necenity  is  not 
limited  to  the  intellectual  class.   The  mind  of  the  sav- 
age is  as  sensitive  to  the  need  for  internal  peace  as  is 
the  mind  of  the  savant.   On  the  other  hand,  the  uni- 
versaUty  of  the  need  for  internal  peace  is  compensated 
for  by  the  varying  degrees  of  reconciliations  that  wiU 
satisfy  it.  What  the  savage  cannot  explain  in  terms 
of  science  he  can  in  terms  of  superstition.    In  fact  one 
of  the  main  functions  of  superstition  would  seem  to  be 
the  satisfaction  of  this  imperious  mental  need.  The 
invisible  wind  has  no  mouth  to  make  the  weird  moan- 
mgs  that  disturb  him,  so  the  savage  is  impeUed  to  get 
rul  of  this  apparent  contradiction  of  the  rest  of  his  ex- 
perience. Accordingly  he  pefsooifies  the  wind  and 


76  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHING 


thus  lupplies  it  with  the  neeeasary  apparatus,  without 
rousing  any  further  difficulty.  At  laiter  stages,  it  is 

true,  the  latent  difficulties  appear,  and  the  more 
sophisticated  successor  of  the  savage  has  to  invent 
some  other  plausible  explanation.  The  mind  is  exact- 
ing in  its  demand  for  some  explanation  or  other; 
it  is  less  eocacting  in  the  quality  of  the  exfdanation  it 
accepts. 

Herbert  Spencer  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the 
stages  by  which  he  arrived  at  what  he  considered  to  be 
the  truth  '  about  the  colour  of  shadows.  At  the  first 
stage  he  regarded  them  as  black,  smce  he  had  been  ao- 
customed  to  use  India  ink  to  represent  them  in  his 
drawings.  At  eighteen  he  was  told  by  a  friend  that  all 
shadows  are  neutral  tint,  but  "it  was  only  after  my 
friend  had  repeatedly  drawn  my  attention  to  instances 
in  nature,  that  I  finally  gave  in."  He  held  the  neutral- 
tmt  view  for  some  years,  though  he  did  observe  "that 
the  tone  of  the  neutral  tint  varied  considerably  in  dif- 
ferent shadows."  The  divergences,  however,  "were 
not  such  as  to  shake  my  faith  in  the  dogma."  His 
peace  of  mind  was  at  last  disturbed  by  a  statement  in 
a  popular  work  on  Optics:  "the  colour  of  a  shadow  is 
always  the  complement  of  thecc^ur  of  thel^t  casting 
it."  He  wanted  to  know  "  Why  are  shadows  coloured? 
and  what  determines  the  colour?"  As  a  result  of  his 
investigations:  — 

"It  became  manifest  that  as  a  space  in  ahadow  is  a  space  from 
whidi  the  direct  l^t  alone  is  excluded,  and  into  v^ich  the  indired 
light  (namely,  that  reflected  from  surrounding  objects  by  the  clouds 
and  sky)  continues  to  fall,  the  colour  of  a  ahadowmust  partake  of  the 
colour  of  everything  that  can  either  radiate  or  reflect  light  into  it. 

•  "The  Valuation  of  Evidence,"  E$»ay»  (1891),  Vol.  II,  p.  161. 


MBNTAL  AGTlVmr 


77 


Henee  the  ookwr  of  a  shadow  muat  be  the  average  aOour  0/  the  diffuaed 
light;  and  must  vary,  ■•  that  Taries,  wHh  the  ookNin  of  aD  aurrauiKl- 

ing  things.  Thus  was  at  once  explained  the  inconstancy  I  had  al- 
ready noticed ;  and  I  presently  recognised  in  Nature  that  which  the 
theoiy  hnplies  — namely,  that  a  shadow  may  have  any  colour 
whatever,  according  to  circumstances. 

"  Here,  then,  respecting  certain  simple  phenomena  that  are  hourly 
visible,  are  three  loceearive  ooiiTietions ;  each  of  them  based  on  yeara 
of  observation;  each  of  them  held  with  iinh««it«rii^  ocmfidenoe; 
and  yet  only  one  —  as  I  now  believe  —  true."  * 

Further,  the  mind  does  not  go  out  of  its  way  to  seek 
for  troublesome  inconsistencies.  So  long  as  no  ques- 
tions are  raised  it  is  quite  content  to  accept  things  as 
they  are.  A  teacher,  giving  a  lesson  to  a  young  class 
on  a  bluebottle,  asked  how  the  creature  made  its  famil- 
iar buzzing  noise.  When  she  received  an  answer,  she 
told  the  children  that  she  expected  that  answer.  Of 
course  they  thought  the  bluebottle  buzzed  with  its 
mouth  because  when  they  wanted  to  buzz  they  did  it 
with  their  mouths.  Accepting  the  teacher's  word  that 
they  were  wrong,  the  class  had  no  peace  till  she  told 
them  that  the  buzzing  was  caused  by  the  wings.  This 
gave  the  children  perfect  satisfaction,  as  it  did  the 
teacher,  till  her  Normal  Master  pointed  out  that  if 
you  remove  the  bluebottle's  wings,  it  does  not  stop 
buzzmg,  but  actually  bujses  a  little  harder  than  usual. 
It  was  now  the  teacher's  turn  to  be  worried,  and  it  was 
not  till  she  had  learned  about  the  special  little  buzzing 
organ » that  she  could  drop  the  subject  and  be  at  peace 
once  more. 

Every  mind  contains  a  large  numbo-  of  contradic- 
tions that  give  rise  to  no  trouble  because  they  are  not 

'Diacovered  by  Landtrfs. 
brated  AnimaU,  p.  377. 


T.  H.  Bxakji  AnatMHg  ^  Inmte' 


78   EXPOSITION  AND  IXXU8TRATI0N  IN  TBAOHING 

perceived.  The  two  sets  of  facts  lie  apart,  and  are 
neyer  brought  into  contact  with  each  other,  so  the  mind 
is  content  with  its  erroneous  correlation.  It  was  an 
experienced  M.D.  with  a  tincture  of  literature  who  con- 
fessed that  he  had  just  discovered  the  true  meaning  of 
a  "flash  in  the  pan."  Ee  had  all  along  associated  the 
proverb  with  the  frying  pan.  He  knew  quite  as  much 
about  flmtlocks  as  about  frying  pans,  but  he  had  never 
had  occasion  to  connect  the  proverb  with  the  firearm. 
The  same  sort  of  thing  is  seen  in  relation  to  our  precepts 
of  religion  and  of  busmess.  We  usually  keep  them 
carefully  apart.  Indeed  it  is  the  business  of  the  earnest 
and  faithful  clergyman  to  bring  face  to  face  the  pre- 
cepts from  the  two  spheres  and  ask  his  congregation  to 
reconcile  them.  His  success  is  measured  by  the  degree 
of  discomfort  he  is  able  to  introduce  into  the  minds  of 
his  hearers.  So  soon  as  he  has  introduced  dispeace 
among  the  elements  of  the  mental  content  he  has  pro- 
duced a  disturbance  that  .cannot  be  set  at  rest  till  in 
some  way  or  other  the  exposed  contradiction  is  recon- 
ciled. No  doubt  churchgoers  are  often  very  successful 
in  efifectmg  a  superficial  reconciliation,  but  this  must  be 
honestly  satisfactorj  so  far  as  it  goes,  if  the  person 
affected  is  to  get  any  peace. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  deliberate  self-deception  in 
our  attempts  to  restore  harmony  between  apparent 
contradictions.  The  wish  no  doubt  is  often  father  to 
the  thought,  but  m  the  cases  we  have  in  view  the  con- 
tradiction is  assumed  to  have  been  brought  to  light  and 
pUced  clearly  before  the  consciousness,  so  that  the  wish 
cannot  generate  the  thought,  much  as  the  mind  may 
desire  it.  When  Shakespeare  says  of  the  false  Duke 
Antonio,  — 


MXMTAL  ACnYITT  79 

"Who  having  unto  truth,  by  telling  of  it, 
Ifade  luch  a  sinner  of  hi«  memory, 
To  credit  hia  own  lie,  —  h«  did  b^tvv 
He  was  indeed  the  duke/" 

he  is  describing  what  Antonio  would  have  liked  to 
believe,  rather  than  what  he  did  believe.  No  doubt 
the  usurper  was  full  of  arguments  to  justify  himself 
in  ousting  his  brother,  and  these  arguments  probably 
gave  him  a  great  deal  of  consolation,  but  they  could 
never  convince  him  that  "he  was  indeed  the  duke." 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  greater  the  efforts  he  made  to 
deceive  himself,  the  less  likely  would  he  be  to  attain 
his  end,  for  he  would  only  be  keeping  more  prominently 
before  oonsdousness  the  ocmtoadietion  that  he  wished 
to  remove.  In  his  efforts  to  decdve  himself  he  would 
be  doing  what  the  good  expositor  is  continually  doing 
when  he  seeks  to  break  up  a  false  combination  of  ideas 
in  order  to  substitute  a  true  one.  For  this  co-presen- 
taticm  in  consdousness  of  ideas  tiiat  are  really  con- 
tradictory to  each  other  is  an  essential  part  of  the 
process  uf  Exposition.  It  may  be  called  Confrontation, 
since  it  implies  the  bringing  face  to  face  of  ideas  that 
cannot  live  peaceably  together. 

In  Confrontatilm  it  k  aaramed  that  both  terms  of 
the  contradiction  are  known  to  the  parson  concerned. 
If  this  is  not  the  case,  no  real  confrontation  can  take 
place.  I  once  tried  to  prove  to  an  Arran  farmer  that 
the  earth  is  round.  I  did  not  succeed.  He  was  in  the 
wrong,  no  doubt,  but  his  was  a  mind  of  the  most  vigor- 
ous kind,  a  mind  that  worked  admirably  within  its 
limits.  These  limits  excluded  all  the  scientific  ideas 
that  make  it  necessary  to  believe  that  the  earth  is 
*  Th»  TtH^put,  Aflt  I,  So.  2. 


80   EXPOSITWN  AND  ILLU8TRATI0M  IN  TBAOBHTO 


round.  AH  the  ideu  (hat  liad  aeoeM  to  the  farmer's 
mind  were  on  the  most  Meodty  terma  with  all  the  other 

ideas  to  be  found  fhere.  So  soon  as  anyone  is  able  to 
introduce  into  that  man's  mind  an  idea  that  is  incon- 
■istent  with  the  flatness  of  the  earth,  a  disturbance  will 
be  tet  iq>  that  may  lead  to  the  true  arrangement  of  his 
ideas  on  this  subject,  but  is  more  likely  to  lead  to  a  lear^ 
rangement  which  shall  explain  the  particular  mconsis- 
teney  of  which  he  has  been  made  conscious,  without 
necessarily  corresponding  with  what  we  call  fact. 

The  principle  of  Confrontation  is  nowhere  better 
illustrated  than  in  the  Sooratio  method.   It  was  the 
custom  of  Socrates  to  begin  his  discussions  by  a  demand 
for  a  definition,  which  in  his  ironical  way  he  often  rep- 
resented to  be  a  help  to  himself  in  getting  at  .he true 
meaning  of  the  subject  under  discussion.   It  was  not 
long  before  he  proceeded  to  confront  the  ideas  put  for- 
ward by  his  interlocutor  with  certain  other  ideas  that 
he  knew  formed  a  part  of  that  interlocutor's  mental 
content.   The  opposition  thus  disclosed  gave  an  excel- 
lent opportunity  of  stimulating  that  enquiry  that  was 
always  Socrates'  aun.   The  method,  in  fact,  has  ahnost 
always  three  stages.   First  there  is  confidence  without 
proper  foundation;  next  as  the  result  of  Confrontation 
there  arises  doubt  and  desire  to  attain  to  the  truth; 
then  in  the  third  place  comes  certainty  founded  on 
legitimate  grounds.   It  is  true  that  in  some  of  the 
actual  Socratio  dialogues  the  third  stage  is  not  attamed, 
the  master  contenting  hunself  with  the  disturbance 
that  he  had  set  up,  well  knowing  that  the  interlocutors 
could  not  settle  down  till  they  had  reached  some  sort 
of  conclusion,  which  if  not  perhaps  so  satisfactory 
as  one  that  could  have  been  suppUed,  had  at  any 


mNTAL  Acnvmr 


81 


rate  the  compensating  advantage  of  having  been  at- 
tained by  the  eflfort  of  the  thinker  himself.  This 
nwtliod  of  unfinirfwd  eipoaition  may  be  permissible  in 
the  case  of  advanced  pupUs,  but  with  the  oidinuy 
schoolboy  it  is  generally  better  to  carry  the  dialogue 
to  its  legitunate  conclusion.  The  work  of  the  ordinary 
school  affords  many  opportunities  to  apply  the  method 
of  Confifontstion. 

To  illuatrate,  take  the  ease  of  that  eooftuit  diffi- 
culty at  the  early  stages  of  composition,  the  incomplete 
sentence.  Pupils  brought  up  m  illiterate  homes  are 
very  apt  to  make  a  relative  clause  stand  by  itself, 
with  no  other  help  than  the  original  grammatical  sub^ 
ject.  In  sehoob  idiere  the  pupils  come  from  homes 
in  which  grammatical  English  is  habitually  spoken,  there 
is  not  so  much  danger  of  this  particular  fonn  of  error, 
but  every  teacher  in  a  school  for  the  poorer  classes  is 
unpleasantly  familiar  with  such  a  sentence  in  a  pupil's 
enraeebookas— 

John  who  broke  the  window 

The  following  is  a  verbatim  reproduction  of  a  lesson 
actually  given  to  a  class  of  about  sixty-five  rather  dull 
boys  of  average  age  11  J.  The  sentence  had  occurred 
in  one  of  the  class  ezocise  books,  and  was  placed  on  the 
blackboard,  as  it  had  been  written,  with  the  addition 
of  a  eomma  after  the  word  John,* 

•  The  class  had  gone  through  a  regular  course  erf  Instraetkm  on  tiw 
nature  of  the  aeotenoe.  and  knew  in  thmtry  all  about  sentence  making, 
and  the  diatiiietioD  between  »  smtenee  and  a  mere  phrase.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  lesson,  therefore,  was  not  so  much  to  communicate  new 
ideas  as  to  give  a  meaning  to  ideas  already  known,  wid  to  inereaw 
their  preeeatfttive  activity  by  nn  prnwinUm  thwn  to  the  < 
in  their  propMr  wwneetions. 


MICROCOPY  RESOIUTION  TIST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


J   /PPLIED  INA^^GE  Inc 

1SS3  Cost  Mom  Street 
B«      Rochester.         York      14609  US* 
Im;      (716)  ♦82 -O300-Ptwn« 

(716)  288  -  5989  -  Fax 


82   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


Teacher.  Now  what  did  John  do  ? 

Pupil  (confidenUy).   Broke  the  window. 

T.  whatdidieftodo? 

P.  Broke  the  window. 

T.  Were  there  two  windowB,  then  7 

P.  No,  sir. 

T.  Then  who  broke  it? 
P.  John. 

T.  And  what  did  toAo  do  ? 

P.  (doubtfully).  It  says 'wAo  broke  the  window/ 

T.  Did  it  take  two  to  break  the  window  T 

P.  No,  sir. 

T.  Then  which  oi  them  did  the  breaking? 

(Pupils  puzzled.  No  answer.) 
T.  How  many  people  were  there  altogether? 
P.  (cautiously),  /oftn  and  i0ft«. 
T.  Now,  which  was  bigger,  John  or  uiAof 
P.  They're  both  the  same. 
T.  Then  there  was  only  one  person  there? 
P.  Yes,  sir. 

T.  And  what  was  his  name? 
P.  John. 

T.  And  what  did  he  do? 
P.  Broke  the  window. 

T.  Then,  would  it  not  be  enough  to  say, '  John  broke  the  window '  ? 
P.  Yes,  sir. 

T.  Is  that  what  it  says  on  the  blackboard  ? 
P.  No,  sir:  it  says, 'John,  wAo  broke  the  window.' 
T.  And /oAn  Mid  wiko  are  the  8:»me  person? 
P.  Yes,  sir. 

T.  Then,  they  both  have  the  same  right  to  the  verb  ? 
P.  Yes,  mr. 

T.  Which  (rf  than  is  nearer  the  verb? 

P.  Who. 

T.  What  maris  is  between  John  and  the  verb  ? 
P.  A  comma. 

7*.  Now  if  only  one  of  the  two  can  claim  the  verb,  which  has  the 
better  right  to  it? 
P.  Who. 


MSNTAL  ACTIVITY 


83 


T.  And  evuy  noun  and  pranoun  that  m  •  lubjeet  mart  haT«  » 

verb? 

P.  Yes,  sir. 

T.  Then  if  wAo  gets 'lwoke,'^t  verb  is  left  for  Jo*iif 

P.  None. 

T.  How  many  subjects  are  there  here  7 
P.  Two. 

T.  And  how  many  vnbs? 

P.  One. 

T.  And  every  subject  must  have  a  verb  ? 
P.  Yes,  sir. 

r.  How  many  vorbs  do  we  need,  th«i,  besides 'bndu'f 

P.  One. 

T.  Give  me  <me. 

(No  answer.) 

T.  J ohn  (who  broke  a  window)  did  something,  or  was  anmaf-^jug, 
What  would  you  do  if  you  broke  a  window? 
P.  (promptly).  Run  away,  sir.' 

T.  Finish  it,  then.  John,  who  broke  a  window  ? 

P.  Ran  away. 

T.  Which  are  the  two  verbs  now? 

P.  'Broke 'and 'ran.' 

T.  Which  belongs  specially  to  what 

P.  Broke. 

T.  And  to  JoAnf 

P.  Ran. 

In  this  and  in  all  other  applications  of  the  Socratie 
method  the  teacher  is  really  leading,  though  he  seems 
to  be  following.  He  knows  from  the  beginning  the  goal 
he  desires  to  reach.  He  knows,  further,  the  ideas  the 
pupil  already  possesBes,  and  feels  that  it  is  his  business 

*  In  the  actual  lesson  this  answer  led  to  the  inevitable  moral  rebuke 
from  which  the  teacher  returned  to  the  main  subject  as  above.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  teacher  was  severely  criticised  for  not  substituting 
in  the  final  part  the  moral  "paM  for  It,"  imtod  <rf  the  dlsereditabte 
"ran  away."  It  does  seem  a  pettifoaging  dMaetkm,  but  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  the  critics  are  right. 


84   mCPO0inON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

SO  to  manipulate  those  ideas  that  th^  shall  ultimatdy 
form  the  combinations  he  desires. 

But  when  we  say  that  the  pupil  possesses  certain 
id^,  we  do  not  mean  that  these  ideas  are  necessarily 
present  in  the  consciousness  of  the  pupil  when  the  les- 
son begins.  At  any  moment  in  a  given  mind  only  a 
very  limited  number  of  ideas  can  be  functioning.  The 
mind  is  capable  of  being  conscious  in  a  great  variety  of 
ways,  but  is  not  capable  of  being  conscious  in  all  those 
ways  at  one  and  the  same  moment.  When  we  say  tiiat 
a  mind  possesses  a  certain  idea,  we  mean  that  that  mind 
has  a  permanent  potentiality  of  acting  uniformly  under 
certain  identical  conditions  as  often  as  those  conditions 
recur.  An  idea  not  in  consciousness  may  therefore 
be  regarded  as  a  permanent  possibility  of  appropriate 
response  to  certain  stimuIL 

The  field  of  consciousness  is  limited,  and  unless  an 
idea  happens  to  be  within  that  field  at  a  given  moment 
it  would  seem  to  be  powerless,  and  indeed  practically 
as  if  it  did  not  exist.  While  we  are  thinking  at  this 
moment  about  eonsdousness  and  activity,  myriads  of 
ideas  that  in  ordinary  speech  we  may  be  said  to  possen 
are  lying  dormant,  and  oxercise  no  influence  upon  the 
ideas  that  are  at  presen';  in  consciousness.  Our  ideas 
about  rock  crystals,  for  example,  are  as  if  they  had  no 
existence.  But  the  imp  ortant  point  has  to  be  consid- 
ered :  Are  all  our  kieas  t^t  are  not  within  consciousness 
at  a  particular  moment  equally  mert?  When  a  man  is 
thinking  of  the  power  of  ideas,  for  example,  are  his 
ideas  about  rock  crystals  and  his  ideas  about  John 
Locke  equally  meflfective?  He  is  not  thmking  about 
either  Locke  or  crystals,  but  we  have  the  general  feel- 
ing that  Locke  u  nearar  to  his  thou^ts  at  the  ptmBa% 


MENTAL  ACTIVITY 


85 


moment  than  are  the  crystals.  Though  Locke  is  below 
the  threshold  of  consciousness  he  somehow  seems  nearer 
that  threshold  than  do  the  crystals.  Is  there  then  a 
differentiation  among  the  ideas  that  are  out  of  con- 
sciousness corresponding  to  the  differentiation  we  have 
seen  to  maintain  within  conscioumess  ?  It  would 
seem  that  between  the  conscious  and  the  unconscious 
there  is  a  clear  dichotomy.  We  are  either  conscious 
of  an  idea  or  we  are  not;  anything  that  is  below  the 
threshold  is  therefore  out  of  consciousness.  Perhaps 
our  trouble  arises  from  a  too  rigid  application  of  our 
figure  of  the  threshold.  There  is  something  extremely 
definite  in  the  idea  of  a  threshold.  A  visitor  either  has 
or  has  not  crossed  it.  He  is  either  in  our  house  or  he 
is  not.  But  if  V.  J  are  expecting  him,  or  if  we  chance  to 
see  him  ctnning  up  the  walk  we  are  influenced  by  him 
before  he  is  actually  in  the  house.  The  figure  is  not 
perhaps  a  very  illuminating  one,  as  it  amounts,  after  all, 
to  an  illustration  of  consciousness  by  an  appeal  to  con- 
sciousness. But  since  it  is  impossible  to  transcend 
conscioooiess,  it  is  di£Scult  to  see  how  this  community 
of  subject-matter  can  be  avoided. 

Even  if  we  could  justify  the  rigidity  of  the  threshdd 
figure,  there  would  still  remain  a  certain  vagueness 
about  the  mental  content  in  the  marginal  area.  Ideas 
are  in  constant  motion  about  the  threshold  of  conscious- 
ness :  now  on  the  line,  now  above,  now  below.  An  idea 
that  is  at  the  present  moment  below  the  thrediold,  but 
a  moment  ago  was  above  it  and  in  another  moment  will 
be  above  it  agam,  may  be  said  to  exercise  a  certain 
influoice  on  the  continuum  on  the  borders  of  which  it 
wavers.  It  is  to  meet  cases  of  this  kind  that  the  term 
M*&eofMeioiM  is  used.   Of  ooone  an  idea  mntt  either 


86    EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

be  in  consdousaess  or  not;  accordingly  we  must  regard 

a  subconscious  idea  as  in  some  way  or  other  within 
consciousness.  Yet  from  the  way  in  which  the  term 
is  used  one  would  almost  be  led  to  think  that  it  meant 
that  certain  ideas  are  in  the  consciousness  without  our 
heang  conscious  of  them  —  a  clear  contradiction  in 
terms.  By  the  Law  of  Excluded  Middle  there  seems 
to  be  no  place  for  the  subconscious  between  the  con- 
scious and  the  unconscious.  Yet  it  is  obvious  that 
Jkere  is  a  difference  between  an  idea  that  is  hovering 
on  the  verge  of  consciousness,  and  one  that  is  lost  in 
the  limbo  of  unconsciousneE»  and  may  never  again 
return  to  consciousness.  Logic  may  rule  out  the  sub- 
conscious, but  Psychology  must  find  it  a  place. 

To  beg^  with,  it  has  to  be  admitted  that  ideas  that 
are  not  presoit  in  the  consciousness  exercise  a  certain 
influence  upon  ideas  that  are  in  the  consciousness,  and 
if  an  absolute  distinction  is  demanded,  it  may  be  satis- 
factorily put  for  practical  purposes  as:  At  any  given 
moment  an  idea  may  be  said  to  be  subconscious  if 
without  bang  itself  within  the  cfnisdoumess  it  exerciseB 
an  influence  on  ideas  that  are  at  that  moment  within 
the  onsciousness.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  an  idea  that 
has  just  left  the  consciousness  may  leave  behind  it  an 
influence  ihat  does  not  cease  the  moment  it  passes  over 
the  threshold.  So  with  an  idea  that  is  coming  up 
towards  consciousness,  it  may  not  be  very  di£5cult  to 
persuade  people  that  it  may  cast  its  influence  before  it, 
and  thus  to  some  extent  act  within  the  mind  before  it 
appears.  But  we  must  go  further,  and  admit  that  ideas 
may  exercise  an  influence  within  the  mind  even  if  they 
do  not  reach  the  consciousness  at  all  on  the  particular 
o<M»si(ni  that  we  examine.  When  we  are  dealing  with  a 


MENTAL  ACTIViry 


87 


difficult  and  eompUe«ted  i»obIem,  for  example,  we  caU 
into  the  consciousness  a  large  number  of  relevant  ideas 

and  carefully  examine  them  in  relation  to  each  other, 
and  to  the  problem  we  are  working  with.  But  as  we 
Aall  see  more  fully  later'  we  cannot  at  wiU  recall  all 
the  relevant  ideas.  By  skilful  manipulation  we  may 
gather  together  most  of  the  significant  ideas,  but  some 
at  least  remain  outside  consciousness.  Are  these  un- 
ralled  witnesses  without  influence  on  our  decisions? 

The  answer  would  appear  to  be  that  ideas  in  the  sub- 
conscious region  do  exercise  an  influence  upon  ideas 
within  consciousness,  even  though  on  the  occasion  in 
question  they  do  not  emerge  at  all  above  the  threshold. 
The  mind  is  deaUng  with  a  knotty  problem  in  some 
such  dangerous  subject  as  Political  Economy  —  noted 
for  its  pitfalls.   The  ideas  at  present  in  the  continuum 
seem  to  fit  into  each  other  quite  naturaUy;  there  is 
therefore  mtemal  harmony,  and  the  probl«n  se^  to 
be  solved.   Yet  the  mind  is  not  satisfied.   It  has  an 
uneasy  sense  that  there  is  a  flaw  somewhere,  and  goes 
on  calUng  up  aU  the  avaUable  ideas  connected  with  the 
subject  in  order  to  discover  some  possible  error.  For 
long  nothing  adverse  turns  up;  but  by  and  by  an  idea 
rises  above  the  threshold  and  breaks  down  the  hypoth- 
^18  that  was  m  all  other  respects  satisfactory.  This 
belated  idea  may  be  reasonably  supposed  to  be  sub- 
conscious at  the  time  that  the  hypothesis  was  formed 
thus  causmg  the  disquieting  vague  impression.  Fur- 
ther it  would  have  been  none  the  less  subconscious  ev»i 
If  It  had  not  come  up  in  time  to  break  down  our  hypoth- 
esis, or  had  never  come  into  the  consciousness  at  all 
It  might  quite  weU  have  caused  the  uncomfortable 

« P.  104. 


88   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TSACHING 


feeling  in  the  mind  without  coming  up  in  time  to  warn 
the  thinker.  When  the  thinker's  critics  point  out  the 
flaw,  the  subconscious  idea  rises  into  consciousness 
and  the  thinker  reeognises  that  it  had  given  him  a 
vague  warning  though  it  did  not  readi  his  conscious- 
ness in  time  to  prevent  the  blunder. 

The  '  =^nomcna  of  the  subconscious  may  be  readily 
correl  .  with  certain  of  the  theories  of  brain  action. 
If  th«  associations  formed  among  ideas  correiqrand  to 
interrdations  established  amcmg  certain  neural  Byvteraa 
through  their  functioning  in  a  sybcematic  way  in  re- 
sponse to  certain  stimuli,  it  may  well  be  assumed  that 
when  certain  systen  re  stimulated  to  the  necessary 
extent,  certain  corresponding  ideas  rise  into  the  con- 
sciousness. This  stimulation  has  the  natural  tendency 
to  spread  among  the  othor  systems,  but  naturally  it  will 
spread  more  easily  among  systems  correlated  with  ideas 
that  have  formerly  been  connected  with  the  ideas  at 
present  in  consciousness..  It  may  plausibly  be  sug- 
gested that  within  the  brun  there  is  a  sc .  x  '  '  "nsical 
replica  of  the  field  of  conmsiousness;  . .  neural 
systems  are  in  a  high  state  of  excitement—  .ne-se  cor- 
respond to  the  focal  ideas.  Systems  in  vaiiouu  de- 
creasing degrees  of  excitement  may  well  correspond  to 
the  various  degrees  of  obscuration  of  the  ideas  till 
tracts  are  reached  that,  though  stimulated  by  the  gen- 
eral impulse  that  affects  all  the  system  we  are  dealing 
with,  are  not  sufficiently  stimulated  to  cause  a  definits 
idea  to  rise  into  consciousness.  Such  tracts  will  corre- 
spond to  the  ideas  that  are  in  the  subconscious  state. 
If  the  nemtd  system  conc^ned  is  thoroughly  well 
organised,  as  must  be  the  case  with  r^ard  to  the  sys- 
tem that  r^pilates  our  thinking  on  any  subject  of  idiidi 


MENTAL  Aonvmr 


we  have  an  intelligent  knowledge,  it  will  be  impossible 
to  stimulate  some  of  the  traett  up  to  consciousness 
pitch  without  at  the  same  time  stimulaUng  all  the  cor- 
related tracts  into  some  degree  of  activity.  Accord- 
ingly, even  the  most  remote  relevant  ideas  will  be  raised 
to  at  least  the  subconscious  state,  and  the  whole  system 
80  energised  that  its  elements  require  only  a  very  slight 
additional  impulse  to  send  them  up  into  consoiousaess. 

This  additional  stimulus  is  what  we  seek  to  give  them 
by  our  ordinary  methods  of  dealing  with  problems. 
We  put  ourselves  in  the  way  of  stimulating  certain 
ideas.  We  turn  to  books  where  we  know  such  ideas  are 
treated.  This  gives  us  the  primary  set  of  ideas.  The 
systems  correspondiL  x  to  these  primary  ideas  stimu- 
late a  great  many  oth  t  systems  at  the  secondary  and 
tertiary  degrees  of  remoteness.  If  our  system  of  ideas 
is  perfectly  coordinated,  then  the  neural  tracts  will 
inevitably  be  stimulated  in  their  proper  order  and  the 
correeponding  ideas  will  preset  themselves  to  con- 
sciousness, just  as  they  are  required  for  purposes  of 
thought.  This  indeed  is  what  happens  in  well-regulated 
minds  when  dealing  with  subjects  in  which  they  are 
quite  at  home. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  this  parallelism  between 
the  physical  and  the  mental  in  no  way  commits  us  ♦o 
materialism.  Even  if  we  could  correlate  every  idea 
that  passes  through  the  mind  with  a  definite  corre- 
sponding cell  in  the  brain,  we  would  be  no  nearer  than 
we  were  before  to  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  the 
relation  between  mind  and  matter.  The  physical 
parallel  has  been  introduced  here  ma'- ' y  because  it  gives 
a  certain  confirmation  of  the  view  taken  with  regard  to 
the  place  of  the  subconscious  in  mental  process.  If 


90   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TEATI0N  IN  TSAOBHTO 

the  theory  adopted  with  legtrd  to  the  rabeoiMdoiif 

fits  in  with  the  Lypotheses  of  certain  physiologieal 
psychologists,  there  is  the  greater  Ukelihood  of  its 
being  true.  In  any  case  the  analogy  serves  as  a  useful 
iUuatrmtioii,  and  after  all,  if  analogy  is  not  always  itself 
a  reliable  argument,  we  are  told  that  it  often  indicates 
that  a  reiiable  argument  cadata. 


CHAPTER  IV 


MlNTAL  BaCKOBOUNDS 

Painters  are  familiar  with  the  jdieiioiiMiia  of  what 

they  call  Turbid  Media.  Colours  vary  according  to  the 
colour  tone  of  the  material  upon  which  they  are  laid. 
This  18  what  the  Hon.  John  Collier  has  to  say  on  the 
•objeet:  — 

"Rub  a  little  hroty  Made  thinly  over  a  white  canvas,  it  will  ap- 
pear a  distinct  brown ;  mix  the  same  colour  with  white,  it  becomee 
a  neutral  grey;  Ixnah  this  grey  thinly  over  a  black  ground,  it  will 
have  a  diltinet|y  \MA  tinge ;  so  that  the  same  pigment  can  vary 
from  a  warm  brown  to  a  blue  grey  without  admixture  with  any 
other  cdour  but  white,  merely  m  accordance  with  the  manipulation 
it  receives.  Yellow  ochre  gives  similar  results ;  when  lightly  brushed 
over  a  white  ground  it  seems  a  ridi  orange,  when  bnidied  fai  pie- 
cfaely  the  same  way  over  a  Uack  ground  it  aeemt  a  sort  of  peen." 

So  with  the  mind.  The  same  idea  has  to  harmonise 
itself  with  quite  a  different  tone  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  background  against  which  it  is  projected.  The 
groups  of  ideas  that  give  body  to  the  stream  of  con- 
sciousness may  be,  without  too  violent  a  figure,  com- 
pared with  a  background,  which  like  every  other  hsjok' 
ground  has  a  powerful  influence  on  our  view  of  any 
element  worked  into  the  foreground.  Naturally  the 
analogy  is  more  complete  when  we  deal  with  the  af- 
fective aspect  of  thought  or  speech.  Public  orators 
of  a  sentimental  turn  are  not  uncommonly  guilty  <rf 

»  Primer  of  Art,  p.  50. 
91 


93  IZPOtinOlf  AHD  ILLUffTRATIOir  IN  TIAOHllf O 

falling  into  a  rhapsodical  mode  of  expretfNBion,  a  sort  of 
"  Ahl"  strain,  that  renders  them  blind  to  the  real  mean- 
ing of  Um  ktoM  they  use.  The  emotional  background 
is  too  strong  for  the  ideas  that  are  projeeted  againat  it. 
Next  morning  in  cold  blood  the  orator  usually  sees  his 
mistake;  indeed  there  is  a  danger  that  the  cold  daylight 
criticism  may  go  too  far  in  the  other  direction,  for 
it  hat  always  to  be  remembered  that  there  are  occa- 
aionii  when  the  value  an  idea  mutt  not  be  judged  too 
closely  by  the  logical  standari.  Still  there  is  some- 
thing wrong  when  the  emotional  background  retains 
its  paralysing  power  even  through  the  callous  period 
ui  proofreading.  The  following  occurs  at  the  end  of  a 
8ermon«tale  to  childrai  by  a  weU-known  London  clergy- 
man, who  published  it  along  with  other  sermons  in 
book  form  in  1891. 

"And  away  down  in  Slat  Street  a  woman  was  stitching  what 
seemed  like  a  little  nightgown,  but  ah  me  I  it  was  not  that  —  it  was 
■MiMit.hing  mMae  itOI,  f«r  hkr  little  dear  bal^  had  died;  ud  the 
mother'e  heart  was  full,  end  the  teen  would  flow." 

Apart  from  the  background  of  this  sad  sermon-tale 
no  one  would  think  that  "a  little  nightgown"  was  a 
particularly  sad  object,  only  less  sad,  in  fact,  than  a 
little  shroud.  Yet  so  powerful  is  this  background  of 
sentiment,  that  not  only  did  it  blind  the  preacher  at  the 
time,  but  completely  deceived  two  differrat  classes  ot 
divinity  students  to  whom  I  had  occasion  to  lecture, 
and  upon  whom  I  took  the  liberty  to  experiment. 
My  subject  was  the  preparation  of  sermons  for  the 
youi^,  and  I  read  the  passage  —  naturally  beginning  a 
little  bit  before  the  dangerous  passage  in  order  to  pve 
the  background  its  proper  effect  — to  illustrate  a 
psychological  principle.  In  both  cases  the  implicit 


MSNTAI.  BAOBGROllTD 


abrarcUty  esMped  detection,  though,  when  it 
pointed  out  to  them,  the  young  men  weie  mueh  oL*- 

grined  that  they  had  allowed  it  to  pass. 

But  the  figure  of  a  background  in  mental  matters 
is  not  limited  to  the  affective  tone.  It  has  a  useful 
applicaUon  on  the  ideational  plane.  W-  ..ve  found 
that  eaeh  idea  that  ooeun  to  the  mind  in..-;  ,.,jtk»  itself 
at  home  there.  It  must  harmonise  itst':  <^\tii  its  sui^ 
rcundings;  and  must  take  a  different  meaning  accord- 
Jag  to  the  mental  background  against  which  it  is  pro- 
jected. The  presented  content  may  be  quite  neutral 
or  it  may  have  a  positive  tone  of  its  own.  In  both  cases 
the  new  idea  or  ideas  must  submit  to  a  modification  of 
tone  or  meaning  from  the  effect  of  the  background. 

Take  some  such  colourless  sentence  as  Think  of  him, 
and  note  the  difference  effected  by  projecting  it  against 
the  following  baekgrounds. 

A  picture  in  Li/t  of  a  low-c'     photographer  trying  to  eofloumn 
aideaaantexprmiaiionhlafe    le  iitt«r'a  face. 
A  widow  laying  flow.>ni  nn  a  grave  and  addrearing  her  little  giri. 
A  religious  revival  meeting. 

A  Frenrlr  •H^oolma  or  during  the  FraP'M>-Pru88ian  war  pointing 
toaportra.  r>  the  first  X  -poleon. 

A  conqtirators'  oMeting  where  a  traitor's  name  has  hteu  mm- 

tioned. 

A  crowd  of  starving  "unemployed  "  watching  the  Mayor  pass  from 
his  carriage  to  a  Oty  Banquet. 

The  same  thing  applies  to  an  idea  dealmg  with  a  con- 
crete object,  say  a  fish.   Note  how  the  emotion  aroused 

varies  according  to  the  background.  Against  a  back- 
ground that  includes  the  Early  Christians  and  the 
Catacombs  it  arouses  either  a  deeply  religious  or  a 
mildly  antiquarian  interest.  Tiy  it  now  against  a 


W   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

background  of  Astronomy,  Sport,  Bread-winning, 
Geography,  Art,  Science,  Slang,  Heraldry,  Asceticism. 

Most  of  the  honest,  that  is,  unmalicious,  misunder- 
standings of  life,  are  the  result  of  failing  to  make  al- 
lowance for  the  background  in  the  mind  of  another. 
When  the  same  ideas  are  presented  against  different 
backgrounds,  the  consequent  confusion  is  so  inevitable 
that  conmion  speech  includes  a  special  phrase  to  ex- 
press this  particular  form  of  misunderstanding.  When 
people  are  at  "cross  purposes,"  they  are  dealing  with 
the  same  words  in  different  connections,  which  is  the 
same  as  saying  that  the  meanings  are  modified  by  the 
backgrounds.   Here  we  have  passed  beyond  mere  tone, 
and  have  reached  the  region  of  relation  among  the  ele- 
ments that  make  up  the  content  of  mind.   The  care- 
less, unreflective  man  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  idea 
he  sends  forth  from  a  given  background  will  find  a  cor- 
responding background  in  the  mind  of  his  hearer  or 
reader.    Fortunately  his  expectation  is  usually  justi- 
fied.  By  the  very  fact  that  two  minds  are  m  com- 
munication, they  are  placed  in  such  a  relation  as  to 
encourage  the  development  of  the  same  backgrounds. 
But  at  the  very  beginning  of  a  conversation  there  is 
sometimes  a  Uttle  difficulty.    The  preliminary  talk 
between  two  persons,  before  commg  to  the  real  pomt, 
is  a  sort  of  tunmg  up,  a  kind  of  mental  feeling  for  the 
proper  pitch.   This  prelimmary  talk  has  sometimes 
been  compared  to  the  few  passes  that  a  pair  of  fencen 
make  before  coming  to  the  real  business  of  the  en- 
counter.  But  the  figure  of  finding  the  pitch  is  perhaps 
nearer  the  truth. 

Many  people  —  particularly  young  people—  are 
irritated  at  what  they  call  "beating  about  the  bush." 


MENTAL  BACKOROUND 


05 


No  doubt  the  principle  in  medias  res  is  admirable, 
if  we  are  sure  that  we  and  our  interlocutor  are  to  be  in 
the  middle  of  the  same  res.    If  two  men  meet  to 
discuss  the  same  subject,  they  are  probably  provided 
with  the  same  backgrounds,  or  at  any  rate  closely 
similar  backgrounds;  but  even  then  a  certam  amount 
of  harmonising  may  be  necessary.    It  is  quite  possible 
that  each  may  view  the  subject  against  a  background 
quite  differently  made  up,  though  composed  of  the 
same  elements.   People  who  argue  for  the  sake  of 
arguing,  people  who  write  to  the  newspapers,  ahnost  m- 
variably  deal  with  idea?  m  the  light  of  their  own  back- 
grounds, and  refuse  to  take  ihe  trouble  to  discover  the 
mental  backgrounds  against  which  the  same  ideas  are 
projected  in  the  mind  of  the  person  with  whom  they 
debate.    If  we  desire  to  convince  another  person  that 
his  view  is  wrong,  we  must  endeavour  to  find  out  exactly 
what  that  view  is;  we  must  discover  what  sort  of  back- 
ground his  ideas  are  injected  against. 

The  reason  why  we  are  so  seldom  at  cross  purposes 
is  that  we  rarely  move  out  of  our  own  set.  All  societies 
are  made  up  of  sets  or  coteries,  each  of  which  is  marked 
by  the  possession  of  a  common  series  of  backgrounds. 
In  dealing  with  those  of  our  own  set  we  have  no  diffi- 
culty, and  dealing  with  our  own  set  makes  up  the 
greater  part  of  life  for  most  of  us.  It  is  when  we  have 
communication  with  our  political  opponents,  with 
monbers  of  a  diflferent  church,  with  foreigners,  even 
with  members  of  some  of  the  ordmary  "Anti*' societies, 
that  we  realise  that  our  ideas  do  not  seem  to  have  the 
effect  upon  our  interlocutors  that  we  intend. 

Teachers  in  a  more  or  less  conscious  way  feel  the 
need  d  bringing  their  own  backgrounds  into  harmony 


96   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

with  those  of  their  pupils.  Young  teachers  in  particu- 
lar soon  discover  that  then-  questions  do  not  produce 
the  answers  they  were  intended  to  elicit.  A  question 
is  asked,  for  example,  the  answer  to  which  is  known 
to  be  within  the  range  of  the  pupil's  knowledge.  There 
is  no  doubt  about  the  matter.  The  teacher  knows,  from 
immediately  preceding  experience,  that  the  answer  is  in 
the  pupil's  mind  only  waiting  to  be  drawn  out.  Indeed 
the  question  may  be  fairly  regarded  as  nothing  more 
than  a  stage  in  the  process  of  making  clear  and  distinct 
an  idea  that  the  pupil  ah^y  possesses,  though  in  a 
vague  way.  The  question  is,  however,  so  expressed  that 
the  pupil,  with  the  best  intention  in  the  world,  cannot 
discover  against  which  background  he  is  expected  to 
project  the  ideas  concerned.  Accordingly  ue  projects 
them  against  the  first  avulable  background,  in  the  hope 
that  this  may  be  the  right  one. 

"Where  was  St.  Paul  converted?"  asks  the  teacher, 
speaking  from  a  geographical  background.  "In  the 
ninth  chapter  of  the  Acts,"  responds  the  pupil,  from 
a  background  of  textual  ref^nce.  In  testing  liie  in- 
telligence of  a  class  the  inspector  asks,  "Where  do  you 
find  gates?"  The  pupil,  from  a  background  made  up 
of  puzzling  experiences  of  the  Socratic  method,  answers: 
"We  don't  find  gates,  we  make  them."  From  an  his- 
torico-geographical  background  the  inspector  desired  to 
elicit  the  deleterious  effect  of  a  large  town  on  the  purity 
of  a  river  He  brought  out  the  fact  that  Robert  the 
Bruce  spent  his  latter  years  at  Roseneath  on  the  Clyde 
in  Scotland,  and  that  as  a  recreation  he  very  probably — 
according  io  the  inspector  —  fished  in  the  river.  The 
question  that  was  to  incriminate  those  who  wen  re- 
qMOsible  for  the  pdlution  of  the  Clyde  took  the  form: 


MENTAL  BACKGROUND 


97 


"Why  couldn't  the  Bruce  fish  there  now?"  From 
a  background  of  plain  common  sense  came  the  r^ly: 

"Because  he's  dead." 

It  is  manifest  that  what  we  are  here  calling  mental 
backgroimds  correspond  to  what  we  have  already 
spoken  of  as  contmuums;  but  we  are  now  treatmg  them 
from  a  new  point  of  view.  Hitherto  we  have  been  con- 
cerned with  the  relative  clearness  or  obscurity  of  the 
elements  that  make  up  the  continuum;  now  we  are 
interested  in  the  varying  effects  of  the  same  idea  ac- 
cording to  the  continuum  in  which  it  is  found.  Instead 
of  considering  the  effect  of  the  diffusion  and  concentra- 
tion of  consciousness  on  the  comparition  of  the  con- 
tinuum, we  now  examine  the  change  produced  on  a 
given  idea  by  the  company  in  which  it  finds  itself. 
The  management  of  mental  backgrounds  is  clearly 
an  important  part  of  the  process  of  Exposition:  ac- 
cordingly we  must  study  the  mechanism  of  these  back- 
grounds; we  must  look  into  the  problem  of  mental 
scene-shifting. 

With  regard  to  the  elements  out  of  which  the  back- 
grounds are  worked  up  there  is  probably  a  greater  imi- 
formity  than  would  at  first  si^t  be  expected.  The 
ultimate  elements,  the  products  of  sense-perception, 
are  practically  uniform,  though  no  doubt  even  here 
there  are  differences  corresponding  to  the  physical  con- 
ditions of  the  sense  organs.  But  even  admitting  the 
gmeral  uniformity  of  elemrats  thrae  remains  a  vast 
possibility  of  differentiation  through  variety  in  com- 
bination. Given  a  hundred  minds  with  precisely  the 
same  ideas  as  presented  content,  it  is  probable  that  no 
two  of  them  have  the  ideas  arranged  in  the  same  way. 
The  order  in  which  the  ideas  were  originally  presented, 


98   EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


and  the  circumstances  of  the  different  persons  con- 
cerned, have  brought  about  a  necessary  variety  in  the 
combinations.    It  is  obvious  that  it  is  impossible  to 
make  a  classification  of  minds  on  a  basis  of  mental  con- 
tent without  practically  attempting  to  "exhaust  the 
universe,"  though  a  rough  and  ready  classification  may 
be  very  serviceable  for  practical  purposes.*   But  with 
respect  to  the  mechanism  by  which  combinations  are 
effected  there  need  not  be  the  same  difficulty.  Mmds 
may  be  divided  into  three  classes  according  to  the 
degree  of  stability  they  establish  among  the  elements  as 
components  of  complexes.    Naturally  there  are  certain 
complexes  of  ideas  that  are  formed  to  correspond  to 
certain  complexes  of  objective  phenomena.  These 
complexes  owe  their  stability  to  the  uniformity  with 
which  they  react  satisfactorily  upon  the  conditions  of 
actual  experience.   But  certain  other  complexes  de- 
pend for  their  stability  upon  the  quality  of  the  mind  in 
which  they  are  formed. 

From  this  point  of  view  the  first  kind  of  mmd  may 
be  named  the  rigid.  It  is  marked  by  the  close  connec- 
tion that  is  maintained  among  the  elements  that  go  to 
form  a  given  background.  Instead  of  moving  freely 
among  themselves  the  mdividual  ideas  form  a  complex 
once  for  all,  and  can  hardly  be  separated  from  each 
other.  The  rigidity  may  result  from  the  emotional 
tone;  wo  may  refuse  to  break  up  our  complex  because 
we  prefer  to  have  the  elements  arranged  in  that  way. 
This  b  the  case  with  the  stubborn  little  cottage  girl 

«  Such  studies  as  Dr.  Berthold  Hartmann's  Die  A  nalyte  daa  kind- 
lichen  Gedankenkreisea  aU  die  naturgenuitae  Grundtage  dea  eraten 
Schulunterriehit  (Lelprig,  18M)  show  that  a  good  beginning  has  al- 
ratdy  been  made  in  thto  kind  of  daadfication. 


MENTAL  BACKGROUND  gg 

who  in  Wordsworth's  poem  refused  to  break  up  the 
combination  of  Lerself  and  her  brothers  and  sisters  into 
a  group  of  seven,  .aerely  because  two  of  them  were 
dead.  The  poet  does  his  best  to  break  up  the  com- 
plex:— 

" '  But  they  itre  dead ;  those  two     dead  I 

Their  spi-ita  are  in  heaven !' 
Twaa  throwing  words  away;  for  still 
The  little  maid  would  havo  h  •?  win. 

And  Kud,  'Nay,  we  are  seven  I'" 

The  extreme  case  of  this  rigidity  is  to  be  fomid  in  that 
form  of  insanity  that  bears  the  name  of  VidSe  fixe. 

Very  frequently  the  natural  tendency  of  certam  minds 
towards  rigidity  is  intensified  by  bad  teaching,  teaching 
for  the  sake  of  immediate  results  rather  than  for  the 
sake  of  the  power  that  comes  from  the  organization  of 
ideas.  It  seems  to  save  time  to  present  ideas  in  ready- 
made  boluses.  Education,  however,  should  be  free  from 
the  trammels  of  such  time  conditions.    The  ultimate 
result  is  the  only  thii  g  worth  considering.   We  are  not 
hexe  concerned  with  the  practical  difficulties  of  supply- 
ing the  bcai  possible  equipment  for  life's  work  in  the 
limited  tune  at  the  disposal  of  the  teacher  in  the  case 
of  the  average  child.   Few  questions  are  of  greater 
importance  than  that  of  making  the  most  f  tha  short 
school  time  available  for  the  artisau  cL       B  it  ^t 
present  our  aim  is  to  get  at  the  best  ideal  state.  Oice 
this  has  been  detem^ed,  educators  may  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  discuss  what  compromise,  &3  a  compromise 
between  what  ought  to  be  and  what  is,  will  lead  to  the 
best  result.   Obviously  we  must  know  the  best  possible, 
before  we  ean  examine  how  closely  we  can  approach  it 
without  attempting  to  overstep  the  lunits  oi  our  powers. 


100  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

The  backgrounds  formed  by  rigid  minds  may  be 
termed  fixed.  Naturally  no  background  can  remain 
pomanently  fixed,  except  perhaps  in  the  case  of  the 
insane,  but  in  ordinary  life  we  find  modified  forms  of 
I'idie  fixe.  Your  dull,  matter-of-fact  man  regards  all 
things  of  the  same  class  against  he  same  unvarying 
background.  He  finds  the  greatest  possible  difficulty 
in  knowing  what  nimbler-witted  people  mean.  The 
same  ideas  are  presented  to  him  and  to  them.  He  can- 
not understand  why  they  produce  such  a  different  efifect 
in  the  two  cases. 

We  shall  see  later  that  up  to  a  certain  degree  of  elabo- 
ration, it  is  a  distinct  advantage  to  have  fixed  complexes 
of  ideas,  but  beyond  that  degree  fixity  is  a  thing  the 
teacher  must  fight  against.  In  the  case  of  rigid  minds  it 
is  obviously  of  prime  importance  that  the  first  presenta- 
tion of  a  given  complex  of  ideas  shall  be  properly  made, 
since  any  change  at  a  later  stage  W:A  be  exceedingly 
difficult.   To  prevent  the  evil  effects  of  rigidity,  then, 
the  best  means  is  to  present  the  component  elements  in 
as  simple  a  form  as  possible.   This  does  not  mean 
merely  in  the  easiest  forms,  but  as  nearly  as  may  be  in 
the  forms  resulting  from  ultimate  analysis.    The  mind 
we  appeal  to  ought  to  do  its  own  combinations.  It 
does  not,  of  course,  follow  that  the  mind  we  deal  with 
will  form  a  different  complex  from  that  we  have  our- 
selves formed.    The  skilful  teacher  will  in  fact  manipu- 
late his  facts  so  that  the  pupil  will  form  precisely  the 
same  complex  as  the  less  skilful  teacher  would  present 
as  a  ready-made  bolus.   But  the  fact  that  the  bolus-fed 
pupil  and  his  bettw-taug^t  compe»  form  the  same 
final  complex,  in  no  way  proves  that  the  resulting  know- 
ledge is  of  the  same  value  in  the  two  cases.  There  is  a 


MENTAL  BACKGROUND 


101 


fundamental  psychological  diflference  between  ideas 
grouped  by  the  mind  itself,  and  the  same  ideas  in  the 
same  grouping  when  that  grouping  has  been  presented 
ready  made  as  the  result  of  the  operations  of  another 
mind.   It  is  true  that  even  when  the  mind  has  made 
Its  own  complexes  of  ideas,  there  maybe  unhealthy 
rigidity  m  the  result.   Some  mmds  are  naturally  in- 
elastic.  That  class  of  mind  that  Roger  Ascham  caUs 
narde  mttes »  is  inclined  to  be  unduly  rigid  Great 
care  must  accordingly  be  taken  that  the  true  complex 
should  be  suggested  at  an  early  stage,  and  further, 
contmual  exercise  should  be  given  in  dealing  with  the 
sarnie  ideas  m  different  connections.   Exercises  of  all 
kmds  have  theu- uses  m  this  way.   Every  time  that  the 
teacher  is  able  to  satisfy  the  reproach  that  is  impUed  in 
the  complaint  "But  you  said  so-and-so, "  he  is  looBening 
the  too  rigid  bonds  that  unite  ideas. 

After  all,  harde  wittes  form  capital  materia!  for  the 
teacher  to  exorcise  his  skiU  upon,  and  it  is  not  difficult 
to  see  that  old  Roger  has  a  warm  side  to  this  class  of 
pupil.    But  every  teacher  dislikes  the  opposite  type  of 
mind  that,  for  want  of  a  better  name,  may  be  caUed  the 
fluid.    In  this  case  there  is  no  fear  of  too  close  a  con- 
nection among  the  ideas  that  form  a  background 
They  are  aUowed  to  roU  about  m  the  mmd  pretty  much 
as  the  molecules  of  a  liquid  mingle  with  each  other, 
borne  complexes  must,  of  course,  be  maintained  in  a 
position  of  comparative  stability,  else  the  mind  would 
faU  to  pieces  altogether.   But  the  complexes  are  at  any 
time  easUy  broken  up.   To  this  type  of  pupU  one  com- 
plex IS  as  good  as  another.   But  even  here  we  must 

f  J^^^f'^"  T  '  first  booke  tenehyng  the  biyngfag  up  of 
youth.   Arber'8  Reprints,  p.  34.  *-B»*m  up  w 


102  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

try  to  get  the  mind  to  do  its  own  combining  and  building 
up.  No  doubt  we  shall  have  to  use  stronger  induce- 
ments, and  we  must  find  better  and  firmer  bonds. 
Above  all  we  must  keep  on  repeating  those  connections 
that  we  seek  to  impress  on  ihe  pupil-mind.  Instead 
of  seeking  out  exercises  in  which  the  individual  ideas 
are  exhibited  in  different  connections  we  must  confine 
ourselves  to  those  that  illustrate  the  workir  g  of  the 
ideas  in  the  same  connection  though  under  different 
aspects.  The  complex  must  as  before  be  made  by  the 
pupil  himself;  but,  once  made,  it  may  be  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  outside  influence  of  the  teacher. 

The  fixed  background  is  m  general  more  character- 
istic of  mature  life;  the  unstable  background  is  common 
in  school.  The  necessity  of  childhood  to  grow  as  well 
as  to  live  makes  it  unporative  that  material  for  growth 
should  be  gathered  from  all  parts.  Accordingly  it  is 
an  arrangement  of  nature  that  children  should  be  rest- 
less in  body  so  as  to  secure  an  all-round  physical  de- 
velopment, and  restless  in  spirit  in  order  that  they  may 
derive  materials  from  all  their  environment.  A  child 
may  have  a  more  or  less  strong  inherent  tendency  to 
develop  fixed  backgrounds,  but  at  early  stages  it  is 
unusual  to  find  this  tendency  very  prominent.  Our 
great  difficulty  is  the  instability  that  characterises 
the  youthful  background.  We  are  never  quite  sure 
that  the  ideas  of  this  minute  will  be  projected  against 
the  same  background  as  the  ideas  of  last.  Among 
grown-up  people  those  who  are  silly,  giggling,  flippant, 
are  usually  those  with  unstable  backgrounds.  What 
is  often  called  the  Associative  mind  is  of  this  class. 
No  doubt  the  force  of  association  tends  to  make  ideas 
cohere.  But  in  the  case  of  fluid  minds  association 


MENTAL  BACKGBOITND  103 

tCi^  ^vT  ^  l«omo^  •  flow  of  idew 
tlian  m  consolidating  ideas  into  oiganised  grouDe! 

SriM r^"'^  ^"'^P^^  a  mind  of  Sfa 
^t7.fi       '  we  do  not  need  toTo 

far  afield  for  abundant  examples  of  the  type  The 
background  against  which  the  idea,  of  Dan^Quickly 
project  themselves  can  hardly  be  caUedTtoble 

Pte.   Thi,  type  of  :„ind  f^r,™r.^ 

immediate  change  if  that  is  found  desirable.  Z 

r  NZIlSLiHi?""^',*"  ^"^''^  fluetuationa  n^ 
be.  Nmbl<>.witted  people  are  marked  by  ahiithdein*. 
of  mobihty  of  background.  J- »  mgn  aegree 

tZ°,fc""''™'*/'"  background, 
take  the  cases  of  a  congregation  listening  to  aW^ 

poan  In  the  sermon,  as  a  rule,  there  is  no  call  for  vio- 
lent  change  of  background.  Frequently  indeed  X 
mes  are  laid  out  befo^hand,  thehe«l^'L^:^' 

work  cm  r  ^"  """^'^  ^  *°  ''«™''>P 

WMk  of  the  hstener  to  supply  the  appropriate  and2»^ 

txst  after  f«!t  u>  mtroduced,  but  for  each  fact  a  pl«» 


lOi  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUaTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


has  hwa  prepared.  At  the  very  start  of  the  lecture 
the  teacher,  if  he  knows  his  business,  has  referred  to 
some  fact  that  he  is  sure  lies  within  .he  knowledge  of 
his  hearers.  This  prepares  the  way  for  a  backgiuimd 
different  from  that  which  previously  existed  in  the 
students'  minds.  As  a  rule  that  previous  background 
is  not  of  much  consequence.  It  is  usually  made  up  of 
floating  ideas  of  the  campus  or  stairs  or  notebooks  or 
whittling  pencils.  If  the  students  have  just  eome  from 
an  examination,  or  from  a  college  row,  or  even  from 
a  specially  interesting  lecture,  the  power  of  the  back- 
ground they  bring  with  them  may  be  much  greater, 
and  much  more  difficult  for  the  new  lecturer  to  deal 
with.  Under  adverse  circumstances  like  these,  the 
teacher  has  two  courses  open  to  him.  He  may  begin 
with  a  particularly  striking  sentence,  in  the  ho^**  of 
causing  a  rapid  change  of  background,  in  which  case 
he  makes  an  assault  upon  the  attention  in  the  hope  of 
taking  it  by  storm.  Or  he  may  begin  by  saying  noth- 
ing to  which  he  attaches  much  importance  during  the 
first  five  minutes,  in  the  hope  that  the  old  background 
will  gradually  give  way,  and  enable  him  to  establish 
a  new  one  as  soon  as  he  begins  to  deal  with  the  real 
matter  of  his  lecture.  This  latter  method  is,  on  the 
whole,  more  likely  to  succeed.  Replacing  the  old  back- 
ground item  by  item  is  a  much  more  hopeful  proceed- 
ing than  an  attempt  to  wave  the  conjurer's  wand. 
A  background  cannot  be  called  up  at  will.  Recall 
is  not  quite  the  same  thing.  It  is  perhaps  not  very 
difficult  to  reinstate  the  background  of  a  previous 
lecture.  Indeed,  it  oug^t  to  be  easy,  for  all  the  help 
students  usually  get  is  the  dry  paragraph  that  follows 
the  colorless  opoiing:  "Gentlemen,  inj>ur  last  lecture 


MmnAL  BAonisouirD  105 

^^"^  begiiming  is  different.  Why  is  it 
that  ihB  experienced  raUway  reader  prefers  to  start  his 
joumey  with  a  "begun"  novel f  And  if  it  is  a  UtUe 
^ksome  to  make  a  beginning  of  a  novd,  why  fa  it 

tlS^tln  ^K^'^'T'^P''*^'  The^sweHscle;^^ 
that  m  both  cases  there  is  no  background,  and  that  in 

than  m  the  novel,  where  the  author  at  least  does  his 
best  to  help  the  reader  in  supplying  a  backgrounT 

in  reading  a  poem  we  are  often  called  upon  to  make 

'Z  rZ  Iw''*  '^""^'^  background.  This  does 
not  mean  that  we  must  suddenly  change  the  whole 

body  of  thought  that  oonesponds  to  Jax^es's  st^^^' 
In  readmg  a  well^nstructed  poem, the  main  bodvof 

^nf  1  .5  ^       accumulated  figures  of  speech.  TTie 
of  ^e  figure  suspends  the  main  interest  of  the  reader 
till  the  correspondmg  so  releases  it  again.   At  Vireil's 
invitation'  we  leave  the  two  TroiaM^d  m 
him  to  the  teeming  bee-hive,  but  when  the  visitTo^^ 
we  gladly  return  to  ^neas  and  his  friend.   While  we 
t^^     .  "^'^^'^  has  become  of  the  Trojans  and 
the  IJmans  ?  Has  the  background  of  country  life  dis- 
placed entirely  the  background  suppUed  by  the  su^J^g 
city  ?  Are  our  thoughts  with  the  bees  or  witii^e 
Trojans  and  the  Tyrians?   Diffen^nt  minl^t  ^! 
erendy  here.   The  rigid  mind  prefers  to  remrvTh 
he  Trojans  and  the  busy  city-builders:  it  resentsThis 
interruption,  looks  at  the  bees  with  disapproval  waits 
«nt^  till  the  poet  sees  fit  to  returnTwfpC 

The  nn.?^  f  ^"i'^  hand,  accom^aiL 

the  poet  ghidly,  forgets  all  about  the  TrojansV3 


•  ^neid,  Book  I,  430. 


106  EXPOSITION  AND  UXUITRATION  IN  TIACHINQ 


nvdi  in  the  new  mom.  The  mui  of  i^Mtio  mind  read- 
ily •tt|>|>liee  the  new  background  that  is  nnocsisrj,  but 
does  not  forget  the  old.  His  enjoyment  of  the  new 
background  is  affected  by  the  fact  that  it  has  a  relation 
to  the  old  one.  The  country  scene  lias  a  different 
eharm  for  him  here,  compared  with  what  it  would 
have  had  it  occurred,  say,  in  Wordsworth,  where  it 
would  appear  for  its  own  srJi^.  It  is  a  esse  of  turbid 
media. 

Some  minds  treat  such  temporary  backgrounds  as 
ends  in  themselves,  others  as  a  mere  part  of  a  wider 
whole.  Some  keep  the  Trojans  before  thdr  minds  all 

the  while  they  are  considering  the  bees.  The  interest 
for  minds  of  this  class  lies  mainly  in  the  relation  be- 
tween the  two  sets  of  ideas.  The  toiling  Tyrians  are 
set  over  against  the  busy  bees.  Other  mindis  can  sus- 
pmd,  for  the  time  being,  the  background  of  IMdo's 
new  city  without  letting  it  disappear  altogether.  The 
charm  of  comparison  comes  after  the  figure  has  been 
enjoyed  for  its  own  sake.  Yet  even  while  the  figure 
is  present  it  cannot  be  treated  quite  as  if  it  were  an 
independ«it  subject  of  thoui^t.  It  lies  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  stream  of  thought,  it  is  true;  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  it  is  focal,  but  the  influence  of  the  whole 
undercurrent  of  the  stream  is  folt,  the  subconscious 
body  of  the  stream  influences  our  treatment  of  the 
surface  current. 

It  is  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life  that  there  is  a  call 
for  sudden  and  more  or  less  complete  changes  of  back- 
ground. The  different  business  calls  a  man  receives  in 
his  office  every  day  need  not  involve  a  greater  change 
of  background  than  we  have  seen  in  the  case  of  read- 
ing a  poem.  There  is  usually  suffident  continuity  to 


MENTAL  BACKOBOUHO  igj 

maintain  the  connection  between  the  pvte.  But  if  a 

man  «  interrupted  in  his  business  by  CehoW 

Zf^iLf background  is  greatly  increaseTA 
nun  called  away  wddenly,  after  a  hard  bargaTwith 
a  business  rival,  to  deal  with  a  «r  «  wiin 
HafHIv  m«i,„  *u  •       °*  conscience  can 

tZrl  the  necessary  change  of  bwkground  wi^ 
the  requu^  rapidity.    In  this  case  there  h^  S  . 

MM  before  the  requuwi  background  can  be  attaine. 
oT^?!n?'T*'.*"*i*^^''*^"^h»*»*t»»ebeg^^, 

uaUy  rearranged,  the  old  baekiraund  i^^^J^i^ 

unite.   They  are  all  grouped  together  more  ot  uJ 

fom  the  real  unite  of  combination.  In  alldescripUve 
^  «d  apeaking  it  is  assumed  that  the  3  » 

hearer  h..thenece«,ycomplexesat  hand  ready-made 
The  more  cultured  the  audience  with  nrfermoe  to  a  par 
fcular  subject  the  greater  the  degree  of  om,nWtT 
^tor  U  entitled  to  assume  inTcom^tt'';' 

novelist eete  hia  acene  m  amedisval  castle,  > 
«^«^  ha  nMKto,  have  a  complex  of  ideas  4  . 
«<»WP«»Kl»  to  h»  ow..  H.  do«  not  begin  with  th. 


108  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINa 

elonentary  ideas  of  portcullis,  barbican,  moat,  draw- 
bridge, ke^,  bailey;  he  assumes  these  to  be  presoit 

and  arranged  in  a  particular  yfa.y.  If  the  novelist  uses 
the  words  "Norman  castle,"  he  assumes  what  he  has 
assumed  before,  but  limits  the  possible  combinations 
of  the  elements.  If  he  motions  the  century  in  which 
the  castle  was  built,  he  makes  a  still  higher  demand 
on  his  readers'  ability  to  conform  to  standard  in  form- 
ing complexes.  If  the  novelist  thereafter  feels  called 
upon  to  expand  into  description,  he  concerns  himself 
entirely  with  those  parts  of  the  castle  in  question  that 
are  more  or  less  peculiar  to  it.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  have  all  a  large  supply  of  ready-made  complexes 
that  are  in  themselves  invariable  and  may  be  used  as 
composite  units  to  build  up  any  desired  whole.  The 
skill  of  the  poet,  the  teacher,  and  the  novelist  is  shown 
in  the  way  they  manipulate  these  complexes  to  form 
the  whole  that  suits  their  immediate  purpose, 
i '  The  first  general  remiark  to  be  made  about  these 
ready-made  complexes  is  that  they  owe  some  of  their 
characteristics  to  the  preferred  sense  of  the  person  in 
whose  mind  they  are  formed.  It  is  well  known  that 
minds  diftor  in  the  class  of  impressions  tiiat  affect  tham 
most.  There  are  those  who  depend  mainly  upon  the 
eye.  These  are  termed  visuals.^  For  them  every- 
thing that  is  comfortably  assimilated  by  the  mind  has 
been  treated  in  terms  of  form,  size,  and  colour.  Audiles, 
on  the  other  hand,  pr^or  to  deal  with  sounds.  An 
audile  mjoys  being  read  to;  a  visual  is  unhappy  unlen 
he  can  read  for  himself.  At  the  play  the  visual  is  most 
impressed  by  the  scenery,  the  dresses,  the  gestiures; 
the  audile  by  the  dialogue,  the  songs,  the  music.  Those 
*  Some  writeis  prtfer  the  term  vmlet. 


MENTAL  BACKGROUITD 


109 


that  are  known  as  taetOea  reduce  everything  as  far  as 
possible  to  impressions  of  the  sense  of  touch.  When 
we  speak  of  a  cat,  the  visual  has  an  impression  of  its  size, 
form,  and  colour;  the  audile  remembers  its  purring  or 
its  caterwaulmg;  the  tactile  reproduces  in  his  conscious- 
ness the  pleasant  feel  of  its  fur.   The  senses  of  .smell 
and  taste  are  not  usually  included  in  this  classification: 
we  do  not,  as  a  rule,  speak  of  gustativea  or  olf actives. 
This  is  probably  because  these  senses  are  of  inferior 
importance  in  the  building  up  of  knowledge.   There  is 
no  doubt,  however,  that  they  also  have  a  considerable 
eflfect  in  modifying  the  way  in  which  different  people 
regard  the  same  thing.   A  caution  is  here  not  out  of 
place.   We  must  not  make  the  distinction  too  promi- 
nent.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  an  audile  gets  most 
of  his  mformation  through  the  ear,  but  only  that  that 
is  the  best  way  to  get  at  that  particular  person.  He 
prefers  to  have  his  knowledge  come  tiirough  the  ear. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  the  psycho-physicists  may  by 
and  by  be  able  to  arrange  the  senses  in  their  precise 
order  of  merit  as  knowledge-providers.    But  even  if 
this  absolute  order  of  merit  were  to  be  published  to- 
morrow, it  would  m  no  way  affect  the  fact  that  people 
have  their  preferred  sense.   An  audile  may  learn  abso- 
lutely more  from  the  sense  of  sight  than  from  the  sense 
of  hearing,  and  be  an  audile  none  the  less. 

In  dealing  with  mental  backgrounds  most  of  us  have 
the  prevailing  impression  of  sight.  For  this  there  are 
obvious  reasons.  There  are  more  visuals  than  audiles 
in  the  world;  and  in  addition,  the  very  word  back- 
ground drives  us  by  association  to  visual  impressions. 
Moreover,  for  the  purpose  of  school,  visual  back- 
srounds  are  more  uatf ul  than  any  others,  for  the  very 


110  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


sufficient  reason  that  we  can,  to  some  extent  at  least, 
compare  them  with  each  other  through  the  intermediary 
of  an  external  standard.   If  the  pupil  is  asked  to  think 
of  a  (»>untry  town,  a  picture  at  once  rises  in  his  mind. 
This  is  his  picture  of  a  country  town.   If  it  is  analysed, 
it  will  be  found  in  all  probability  that  it  owes  most  of 
its  characteristics  to  one  particular  town  with  which  he 
id  familiar,  or  in  connection  with  which  he  made  his 
first  acquaintance  with  country  towns.   Further,  the 
fewer  country  towns  the  pupil  has  seen  the  clearer  is 
the  picture  that  rises  in  his  mind.   To  one  who  has  seen 
a  great  number  of  such  towns  there  is  a  vagueness  about 
the  picture.    The  peculiarities  of  the  different  towns 
are  contrary  ideas,  and  therefore  arrest  each  other. 
Accordingly  there  is  a  struggle  going  on  all  along  the 
line,  and  only  the  absolutdy  common  elem^ts  remain 
clear.    If,  now,  the  man  of  many  country  towns  is 
determined  to  have  a  clear  picture,  he  can  usually  suc- 
ceed; but  the  price  that  he  pays  is  the  loss  of  the  pic- 
ture of  a  country  town  in  general,  and  the  adoption 
of  a  particular  town.   His  town  is  the  pictured  unage 
of  what  he  has  actually  seen.   Indeed"  this  is  the  most 
common  form.    Instead  of  having  a  vague  background 
ready-made,  most  people  have  more  or  less  vague  mem- 
ories of  backgrounds  that  actually  exist.   At  first  sight 
it  may  seem  that  th^  is  no  ham  in  this,  and  some 
may  even  be  prepared  to  say  that  these  pictures  are 
better  than  vague  generalised  outlines.   But  when 
it  comes  to  supplying  backgrounds  to  ideas  presented 
by  another,  it  will  be  found  that  misunderstandings 
are  apt  to  arise  from  the  detailed  character  of  the  pic- 
ture.  The  teacher*s  exposition  may  not  fit  into  the 
pupil's  picture  because  some  detail  in  that  picture  ii 


MSNTAI.  BACKQBOUND  m 

mconsiBtOTt  with  something  the  teacher  has  said.  This 
detail  18  not  essential  to  the  general  background  de- 
manded by  the  teacher,  and  should  therefore  be  elim- 
mated.  In  a  description,  for  example,  the  teacher 
may  speak  of  the  church  as  being  on  the  north  of  the 
market-place,  while  in  the  pupU's  picture  it  is  on  the 
east.  The  pupil's  mind  resents  this,  and  a  wrong  atti- 
tude results.  Wit:  a  purely  generalised  picture  of  the 
village  the  church  can  be  put  anywhere  without  rous- 
ing  opposition. 

^^A  very  interestmg  as  well  as  useful  exercise  is  to  take 
the  catalogue  of  an  art  exhibition  before  seeing  the 
pictures,  and  try  to  realise  what  sort  of  picture  corre- 
sponds to  each  of  the  descriptive  titles.  The  man  of 
many  galleries  succeeds  fairly  well.  His  mental  picture 
of  even  such  a  tantalising  description  as  "Portrait  of 
a  Lady  "  is  not  usuaUy  far  wrong.  But  to  the  ordinary 
ay  mind  tjere  wiU  be  Httle  but  disappointment. 
Chill  October,"  "With  Daisies  Red,"  Spate" 

^  ^^''"^ "  Drinking,"  "The 

yUlage  Wedding,"  all  raise  pictures  in  our  mmdsthat 
do  not  correspond  to  what  we  find  in  the  frames. 
Yet  we  cannot  blame  the  p-mters:  in  each  case  we 
are  constrained  to  admit  that  the  picture  justifies  the 
name,  and  m  most  cases  we  are  prepared  to  acknow- 
ledge that  the  painter's  idea  is  better  than  oun.  But 
for  aU  that,  the  two  pictures,  hi^  and  ours,  are  not 
the  same.  So  with  description.  However  carefuUy  a 
town  may  be  described  to  you, —in  words, —you  will 
always  find  that  when  you  reach  the  town  itsdf  it  is 
not  quite  what  you  had  pictured  it  to  be.  You  cannot 
accuse  your  friend  of  describmg  it  falsely  or  carelessly 
Everything  he  has  told  you  is  justified  by  what  you  see. 


112  EXPOBITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINO 

You  admit  that  it  is  exactly  as  he  described  it  to  you  — 
only  it  is  different. 

Now  if  praetical  issues  depend  upon  this  description, 
how  easily  you  might  be  misled.    Your  picture  corre- 
sponds at  aU  the  points  of  contact  with  the  description, 
but  at  aU  other  points  your  pictrre  is  independent  of 
the  reality,  and  has  no  guidance.   Let  us  not  forget 
that  the  very  vagueness  of  our  backgrounds  may  have 
its  use.  It  is  this  (juaUty  that  enables  us  to  fit  them 
mto  so  many  different  frames.    If  any  discrepancy 
arises,  it  can  be  readily  remedied,  while  as  for  the  remain- 
ing unexpressed  details  they  do  not  matter,  so  long  as 
they  do  not  imply  a  hidden  contradiction.   We  some- 
times forget  how  much  work  the  reader  or  hearer  has 
to  do  as  the  apparently  passive  partner  in  the  process 
of  Exposition.    The  writer  no  doubt  brings  his  ideas 
together  and  lays  them  before  us  with  more  or  less  skill; 
but  the  reader  has  to  supply  Lis  own  backgrounds,  and 
see  that  they  agree  with-the  ideas  projected  against 
them.   Sometimes  it  happens  that  a  discrepancy 
arises  because  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  the  idea  was 
onginally  projected  against  a  false  background,  and 
the  error  is  detected  against  the  more  accurate  back- 
ground suppHed  by  the  reader.'   More  frequently  the 
reader's  faulty  background  is  exposed  by  the  process 
of  projectmg  the  writer's  ideas  against  it.   A  schoolboy 
who  had  never  been  in  Edmburgh  objected  to  his  lesson 
book  for  describing  an  attempt  on  Edinburgh  Castle 
made  from  the  steep  cUff  on  the  west  side.   His  argu- 
m«it  was  that  the  steep  cliflf  was  on  the  east  side. 
When  asked  to  justify  his  criticism,  he  had  nothing  to 
say  but  a  reiteration  that  the  account  must  be  wroiig; 

>  This  is  worked  out  in  greater  detaU  in  C%iip.  3r»"  p.  '1 


MENTAL  BACKGROUND 


118 


this  seemed  to  him  self-evidwit.  It  was  only  when 
hard  pressed  by  his  teacher,  who  pomted  01 1  that  the 
access  was  quite  easy  from  the  east,  that  the  boy  scom- 
fuUy  explamed  that  climbing  a  high  cliflF  out  of  smaU 
boats  was  not  what  he  considered  an  easy  approach. 
The  mention  of  boats  ]ed  to  further  enquiries,  when 
It  came  out  that  the  boy  was  dealing  with  the  only 
castle  he  had  seen,  which  happened  to  be  Dunnottw 
Castle  m  the  northeast  of  Scotland,  where  certainly 
his  objection  held.  He  had  simply  taken  the  word 
castle  to  connote  all  the  dements  of  the  single  casUe 
ne  nad  seen. 

Apart  from  the  errors  arismg  from  different  concM)- 
tions  of  the  content  of  the  mental  backgrounds,  there  is 
another  source  of  danger.    Exposition  may  fail  because 
of  what  may  be  caDed  mental  parallax.   The  teacher 
and  the  pupil  may  project  the  same  ideas  agamst  identi- 
cal backgrounds  and  yet  come  to  different  eonduaions. 
because  they  view  the  ideas  from  different  standpoints. 
The  teacher  may  project  a  given  idea  against  one  part 
^  the  backffound,  and  the  pupil  agamst  another. 
Much  depen(te  upon  the  point  of  view.   Nothing  is 
more  important  m  Expositicm  than  ihe  selection  of  the 
proper  pomt  of  view  and  the  securing  of  the  cdnddence 
of  the  pupil's  standpoint  with  the  teacher's. 

The  danger  of  a  wrong  point  of  view  may  be  illus- 
trated froon  our  own  adult  experience  when  reading 
novels.  Sometimes  the  author  takes  it  upon  him  to 
keep  us  for  several  chapters  in  the  company  <tf  the  vil- 
lain and  his  accomplices.  Gradually  we  begin  uncon- 
sciously to  look  at  things  from  the  villain's  standpomt. 
rh«e  IS.  <rf  course,  in  this  case  no  real  harm  done;  it 
18  only  a  matter  of  tone.  But  the  effect  is  quite  per- 


114  BXPOemOH  AND  nXUOTRATIOK  IK  TEACHING 

ceptible.  By  and  by,  when  some  virtuous  person  in 
the  story  comes  along  and  interferes  with  the  villain's 
plana,  we  experience  a  distinct,  if  momentary  an- 
noyance.' 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  point  of  view  is 
hmited  m  its  effects  to  the  tone  value  of  a  lesson.  It 
IS  equally  important  in  Exposition  that  deals  with  the 
cognitive  side  In  the  more  practical  parts  of  our 
teaching,  m  which  mutation  is  largely  relied  upon,  we 
find  the  pomt  of  view  of  the  first  hnportance.  In  the 
vanous  exercises  in  which  the  teacher  shows  the  pupils 
by  example  exactly  what  they  are  to  do,  there  is  a 
speml  form  of  confusion  that  arises  from  difference 
nUf'       /  «  *he  distinction  between 

nght  and  left.   In  ordinary  life  it  is  common  to  find  a 
certain  amount  of  confusion  between  the  right  and 
the  left.    Every  stranger  who  asks  his  way  in  a  great 
city  has  abundant  evidence  of  the  existence  of  this  con- 
fusion.  It  IS  always  weU  to  test  each  direction  at  everv 
turmng.   For  "third  turning  to  ihe  right"  we  have 
frequently  to  read  "third  turning  to  the  left."  This 
anses  partly  from  the  confusion  that  inevitably  occurs 
m  an  appreciable  percentage  .   ^aaes  when  we  are 
deahng  with  two  oppn'^d  di7c  .i.  ns.   We  have  the 
same  confusion  to  a  1  ^  degtf  t  e.  ^eon  east  and  west 
on  a  map,  but  not  nearly  so  fioquently  between  north 
and  south.    There  may  be  other  causes  for  the  diffw^ 
ence,  but  there  can  be  litfl.e  doubt  that  east  and  west 
are  more  m  iily  confused  because  of  their  connection 
with  the  nght  and  left  of  the  map. 

The  fact  that  the  wayfara-  and  the  poKeeman  who  is 
du^cting  him  usuaUy  stuid  facing  eadi  oihtx  may  have 

'  For  further  fllartratioii,  aee  Chap.  X. 


MENTAL  BACKGROUND 

something  to  do  with  the  reiulting  confusion.  The 
wayfarer's  left  is  the  policeman's  right.  Thisaomw 
of  em>r  is  not  absent  from  school.  The  drill-master 
and  the  sewing  mistress  standing  in  front  of  their  class 
and  tiying  to  lUustmte  some  motion  run  serious  risk 
of  confusion.  Th^  sometinias  meet  the  difficulty  by 
facing  the  same  way  as  the  class,  and  doing  the  he^ 
they  c^  under  the  circumstances.   The  position  is 

ST  T  *"*«^«''  but  is  found  to 

l»,on  the  whole,  the  best  way  outof  an  almost  impossible 
situation.   An  a^teniative  is  to  stand  facing  the  cl^s! 

that  t  l^r  with  w4sed  arms 

that  18,  the  teacher  uses  the  right  arm  when  he  wkhes 
the  pupil  to  use  the  left,  and  vice  versa.  This  natunZ 
requires  special  training  on  the  part  of  the  teacher 


CHAPTER  V 


SuGGnvnoN  nv  ExKMonoN 

We  have  seen  that  the  process  of  influencing  another 
mind  acquires  all  the  interest  of  a  mystery,  and  the 
wonder  of  our  bdng  able  to  act  upon  the  mind  of  an- 
other at  all  is  increased  when  we  discover  that  our  own 
minds  are  far  from  being  entirely  at  our  own  disposal. 
Psychologists  are  fond  of  pointing  out  that  we  cannot 
call  up  ideas  at  will; '  that  we  are  more  or  less  at  the 
mercy  of  chance  recall; '  that  if  "activity  seems  to  be 
self-cauaed  change," '  then  we  have  no  such  thing  as 
mental  activity;  *  tiiat  evea  the  inve^   r  has  to  wait  for 

■  "  Volition  has  no  power  of  calling  up  imai  ^  <>"ly  rejecting 
and  selecting  from  those  offered  by  spontaneous  redintegration.  But 
the  rapidity  with  which  the  selection  is  made,  owing  to  the  familiar- 
ity of  the  ways  in  which  spontaneous  redintegration  runs,  give,  the 
process  of  reasoning  the  appearance  of  evoking  inutges  that  are  fore- 
seen to  be  conformable  to  the  purpose.  Tliere  is  no  oedng  titem  be- 
fore they  are  offered ;  there  is  no  summoning  them  before  they  are 
seen."— Shadworth  H.  Hodgson :  The  Theory  of  Practice,  Vol.  I,  p.  400. 

*  See  the  whole  of  the  sectiua  on  "Command  of  the  Thoughts"  in 
Professor  Alexander  Bain's  The  Emotiona  and  the  WUl,  pp.  369-382, 
particularly  the  famous  passage  (pp.  376-377)  in  which  the  mind  is 
compared  to  a  wild  beast  wa!  ing  to  spring  upon  its  prey,  as  Kxm 
as  it  appears,  but  quite  unable  to  hasten  that  appearance. 

*  F.  H.  Bradley:  Appearance  and  Reality,  p.  64. 

*  G.  F.  Stout :  A  nalytical  Psychology,  Vol.  I,  p.  155 :  "  It  seems  clear 
that  if  our  whole  conscious  existence  is  so  constantly  and  thoroughly 
dependent  on  factors  extraneous  to  it,  there  is  no  room  anywhere 
within  it  f<>r  purely  immanent  causality.  It  is  impossible  to  find  any 
bit  of  mental  process  which  is  determined  purely  from  within." 

116 


SUGGBenON  IN  EXPOSITION  117 


some  outside  spark  to  touch  off  his  loaded  intelligence.* 
If  we  are  distnistful  of  the  evidence  of  the  imfeseional 

psychologists,  we  may  turn  to  the  evidence  of  the  intel- 
ligent layman.  The  following  is  the  view  of  a  writer, 
not  a  professional  philosopher,  whose  name  is  a  house- 
hold word  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  passage 
occurs  in  a  private  letter  to  the  auth<»r:  — 

"A  curioua  thing  is  the  mind,  certainly.  It  originates  nothing, 
creates  nothing,  gathers  all  its  materials  from  the  outside,  and 
weaves  them  into  combinations  automatically,  and  without  any- 
body's help  —  and  doesn't  even  invent  the  combinations  itself, 
but  draws  the  flchone  from  outsicte  auggevtioii.  .  .  . 

"  It  does  seem  a  little  pathetic  to  reflect  that  man's  proudest  pos- 
session —  his  mmd  —  is  a  mere  machine;  an  automatic  machine; 
a  maddne  which  is  so  wholly  independent  of  him  that  it  wiH  not 
take  even  a  suggestion  from  him,  let  alone  a  command,  unless  it  suits 
its  humour ;  that  both  command  aiid  suggestion,  wlien  offered,  origi- 
nate, not  on  the  premises,  but  must  in  aU  cases  come  from  the  outude ; 
that  we  can't  make  it  stick  to  a  subject  (a  sermon,  for  instance)  if 
an  outside  suggestion  of  sharper  interest  moves  it  to  desert ;  that 
our  pride  in  it  must  limit  itself  to  ownership,  ownership  of  a 
madiine  —  a  machine  of  which  we  are  not  a  part,  and  over  whose 
performances  we  have  nothing  that  even  resembles  control  or  au- 
thority. It  is  very  offensive.  Any  tramp  that  comes  along  may 
succeed  in  settmg  it  m  motbn,  but  can't.  If  you  say  to  it : 
'  Examine  this  solar  system,  or  this  Darwinian  Theory,  or  tliis  potato,' 
you  can  only  say  it  or  think  it  when  the  inspiration  has  come  to  you 
fKNn  outmle.  And  to  think  that  Siakeqpeare  and  Watt,  and  we 

>  F.  Paulhan :  Psychologic  de  V Invention,  p.  10.  Taking  Newton  as 
a  typical  case,  Paulhan  deals  with  the  two  essential  elements,  (1)  the 
total  results  of  Newton's  previous  thinking,  and  (2)  the  fall  of  the  apple 
(or  its  equivalent)  as  the  immediate  cause  of  the  discovery:  "Vnn 
indique  la  preparation  lente  I'invention,  la  tendance  qui  travaille 
h  se  completer,  I'id^e  confuse  eherchant  l'£l£ment  qui  la  pr6ciseia; 
I'autie  signale  I'oeeasfon  venue,  I'ti^nwnt  nouveau  qui  se  pr6M«te 
engag^  dans  ia  perception  (ou  dans  I'idee)  d'oil  Tesprit  saura  I'ab- 
straire,  et  determine  la  synthtee  nouvelle,  la  creation  intellectuelle." 


118  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  Uf  TBACBINO 


othera  can't  even  combine  our  tdMkeatdiei  on  fSam  nrifiiial  wHh 
ourselves,  but  that  even  the  combination-scheme  miMit  ooa*  tnm 
the  outside  —  gathered  from  reading  and  exporienoe. 

Meuitime,  iMieft  is  /  ofirfivltM  is  my  iiijiMf  f  are  w«  two  (V  M«  w« 
one?  However,  it  ia  not  important,  for  if  we  say,  'I  will  think,' 
neither  I  nor  the  mind  originated  the  sugsoetion  —  it  t^nw  from 
otttikle/' 

All  this  may  be  very  depressing  and  even  "offensive" 
to  the  ordinary  man.    To  the  teacher  it  ia  full  of  en- 
couragement.  For  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  the 
process  deswibed  he  plays  the  part  of  the  tramp.  He 
does  the  stimulation  from  the  outside.  Archimedes 
prayed  for  a  fulcrum  for  his  lever,  and  promised  that 
if  his  prayer  wrre  answered  he  would  move  the  world. 
But  as  he  could  not  step  off  the  earth,  the  irov  ar&  he 
desired  remained  an  aspiration.   The  prayer  that  was 
reused  to  Archimedes  in  the  physical  world  has  in 
the  mental  been  granted  to  the  humblest  teacher.  So 
far  from  complaining  that  we  are  "prisoned  in  sepa- 
rate consciousness"  and  cannot  share  the  consciousness 
of  our  pupils,  we  ought  to  rejoice  that  we  are  enabled  to 
stand  outside  the  mind-worid  of  our  pupils,  and  from 
our  vantage  ground  there  move  that  world.   To  what 
extent  we  can  move  it  is  a  different  question.  For 
here  we  come  to  an  aspect  of  the  matter  that  restores 
our  self-respect  as  human  beings,  though  it  diminishes 
our  power  as  teachers.   The  writer  just  quoted  is  un- 
duly depressed.   It  is  larue  that  the  tramp  can  for  the 
moment  direct  our  attention  this  way  <a  that  at  his 
will  and  against  ours.   But  the  amount  of  attention 
we  give  depends  not  on  the  tramp,  but  on  the  nature 
and  content  of  the  mind  he  seeks  to  manipulate.  The 
power  of  the  teacher,  like  the  power  of  the  tramp,  is 


■UGoiiTKnr  nr  waaounm  119 


limited  to  dineting  the  mind'i  attention.  The  deter- 
mination of  the  amouBt  And  the  duntkm  of  Hnt  at- 
tention lies  with  the  mind  attacked. 

For  the  comfort  of  the  teacher,  and  the  discourace- 
ment  of  the  tramp,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the  time 
element  k  very  important  to  the  full  understanding  of 
this  niatter.   The  ordinary  tramp  can  command  im- 
mediate but  only  momentary  attention  to  a  particular 
topic.    If  he  happens  to  know  the  sort  of  things  we  are 
interested  in,  and  is  able  to  talk  intelligently  about 
them,  he  no  doubt  is  in  a  position  to  retain  our  atten- 
tion for  quite  a  bng  while.   But  in  domg  so  he  ceases 
to  form  a  part  of  mere  external  nature.  Heisnolonger 
a  mere  tramp  acting  at  haphazard.   He  is  acting 
deliberately,  and  with  a  knowledge  of  what  he  is  about. 
He  is  really  usurping  the  teacher's  place.   Nor  can  we 
reasonably  resont  the  exercise  of  the  power  he  has  over 
our  L  inds.  After  all,  it  is  we  who  have  put  this  power 
into  his  hands.   It  is  because  we  are  what  we  ar*-  that 
he  is  able  to  manipulate  us.   To  a  certain  extent  he  can 
make  us  act  accordmg  to  his  will,  but  he  can  do  this 
only  by  obeying  the  laws  of  our  nature,  by  appealing 
to  what  he  knows  to  be  in  us.  He  must  adapt  himself 
to  us.  He  must  respect  our  individuality.  He  must 
stoop  to  conquer. 

Having  learnt  the  lesson  of  the  tramp,  it  is  now  our 
business  to  discover  what  means  we  have  at  our  dis- 
posal to  manipulate  efifectively  the  mental  content  of 
another  mind.  Immediate  recall  in  which  an  idea 
forces  its  way  into  consciousness  by  the  mere  strength 
of  its  accumulated  presentative  activity  oflfers  no 
difficulty,  and  mediate  recall  that  takes  the  form  of 
sense  stimulation,  as  in  the  case  of  sights,  smells,  and 


120  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TSACHUfQ 

MNinds  reitUbUihing  »  whde  that  formerly  existed, 
is  almost  equally  free  from  trouble.  But  in  the  ordi- 
nary case  in  which  one  idea  recalls  a  whole  mass  we 
have  a  notable  complication.  For  an  idea  usually 
belongs  to  several  groups.  Certain  ideas,  it  is  true, 
are  for  most  minds  rei^rieted  to  one  d^nite  mass. 
They  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  any  other  mass. 
It  is  the  function  of  technical  terms  to  limit  such  ideas 
to  their  nroper  mass,  and  thus  prevent  confusion.  The 
word  ohm  is,  I  believe,  restricted  to  the  science  of  elec- 
tricity, and  for  the  <»dinary  person  has  no  ecnmeoticm 
with  any  other  group  of  ideas.  Even  here,  however, 
I  have  no  doubt  that  in  the  mind  of  a  competent  elec- 
trician the  idea  of  ohm  will  have  connections  with  sev- 
eral masses.' 

Speaking  generally,  every  idea  forms  a  part  of  several 
masses.  Wh«i  an  idea,  thai,  obtains  admission  into  the 
field  of  consciousness  and  proceeds  to  introduce  othors 
by  mediate  recnll,  the  question  arises:  Of  the  various 
masses  with  which  it  is  coAnected,  which  will  it  tavour, 
which  will  it  tend  to  reinstate  ? 

At  first  sig^t  the  obvi(»is  answer  is  the  stroi^sesl 
mass;  that  is,  the  mass  that  is  richest  in  elements,  is 
best  arranged,  and  has  the  greatest  accumulated  pre- 
sentative  activity.  Reflection  shows  that  if  this  were 
so,  then  in  a  given  mind  at  a  given  stage  the  same  idea 
must  always  call  up  the  same  mass.  But  expmmet 
proves  that  this  is  not  the  case.  It  has  to  be  observed 

'  On  making  a  testing,  casual  reference  to  the  term  in  conveiwtion 
with  a  distinguished  physicist,  Dr.  William  Gamett,  iktuefttional 
Adviser  to  the  London  County  Council,  I  found  that  in  his  mind  it 
formed  part  of  an  historical  mass,  an  economic  mass,  an  educational 
mass,  a  laboratory  mass,  a  workshop  mass,  a  literary  mass  —  at  this 
point  we  were  intemqttad. 


BDoonnoif  m  mvonnoN 


121 


that  we  are  not  here  dealing  with  the  effect  of  the  same 
idea  on  different  mindi.   It  it  eaey  to  gueie  the  maea 

that  a  given  idea  will  recall  in  the  case  of  choien  types 

of  men.   The  idea  of  vine  will  naturally  recall  his  green- 
house to  the  retired  merchant  who  is  fontl  of  garden- 
ing, to  the  bon  vivant  his  favourite  wine,  to  the  devotee 
the  fifth  ohaptor  of  St.  John,  to  the  man  home  from 
Europe  the  slopes  of  the  Rhine  or  of  Burgundy,  to  the 
art-lover  certain  pictures  and  schools  of  painting,  to 
the  botanist  some  particularly  long  words.   All  this  is 
plain  sailing.    But  suppose  we  take  the  case  of  a  man 
who  combines  the  six  conditions.   It  is  surely  not  im- 
possible to  find  an  old  gentleman  eager  about  his  green- 
houses, fond  of  wines  and  pictures,  an  enthusiastic 
amateur  in  botany,  full  of  memories  of  happy  walking 
tours  on  the  continent,  and  withal  a  constant  church- 
goer and  Bible-reader.   He  would  be  a  rash  man  who, 
without  knowing  the  old  gentleman,  would  venture  to 
predict  which  of  the  six  masses  the  idea  of  vine  would 
call  up.    Even  if  we  made  his  acquaintance  and  dis- 
covered   hich  masses  had  the  greatest  power  in  his 
consciousness,  we  would  have  only  a  slight  probability 
in  our  favour  in  guessing  the  strongest  mass  as  the  one 
to  be  recalled.   On  the  other  hand,  if  we  team  that  the 
idea  was  brought  before  him  while  walking  in  his  garden 
on  an  autumn  evening  when  he  had  just  become  aware 
of  the  first  appearance  of  frost  for  the  year,  we  may 
with  more  confidence  foretell  the  direction  of  his  ideas. 
Yet  evra  under  these  oircumstaneee,  if  the  old  gentle- 
man had  during  the  aftomoon  given  instructions  about 
heating  the  greenhouses,  and  so  had  his  mind  easy  on 
the  practical  side,  and  if  the  friend  with  whom  he  was 
walking  in  the  garden  had  been  recalling  escapades 


122  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TBATI0N  IN  TEACHINO 


during  their  old  Burgundy  tramp,  the  chances  are  that 
the  idea  of  vine  would  rouse  the  ge(^^phical  and 

reminiscent  mass. 

Before  we  can  foretell  the  course  of  recall,  we  must 
know  (1)  the  contents  of  the  mind  in  question  and 
the  relative  accumulated  presentative  activiti-,3  of  the 
masses;  (2)  the  conditions  under  which  the  mediating 
idea  is  presented;  (3)  the  actual  contents  of  the  con- 
sciousness immediately  preceding  the  presentation. 

It  is  obvious  that  this  is  no  mere  theoretical  problem. 
We  are  here  dealing  with  the  fundamental  problem  of 
Exposition.  We  desire  a  given  mind  to  act  in  a  given 
way.  Our  first  step  must  be  to  learn  the  laws  accord- 
ing to  which  it  acts,  and  the  conditions  under  which 
these  operate.  Having  acquired  this  knowledge,  we 
are  able  to  interfere  effectively  with  the  course  of 
thought  in  the  mind  of  another.  In  ordinary  life  we 
are  continually  doing  this,  often  quite  unconsciouidy. 
Our  every  action  in  relation  to  others  cannot  but  modify 
the  course  of  thought  in  those  others.  Our  very  pres- 
ence often  accomplishes  such  a  modification  without 
our  even  being  aware  of  the  existence  of  the  person 
upon  whose  mind  we  haveexocised  an  influence.  For 
we  have  seen  that  we  are  all  to  a  great  extent  at  the 
mercy  of  external  suggestion. 

In  applying  suggestion  for  our  special  purposes,  then, 
the  first  consideration  in  presenting  a  new  idea  is 
to  discover  against  which  background  it  is  likely  to 
be  projected.  Apart  from  axky  special  circumstances 
that  may  complicate  individual  cases,  there  are  certain 
backgrounds  that  may  be  called  the  normals  for  cer- 
tain ideas.  If  this  mark  13  be  placed  upon  a  black- 
board, we  are  entitled  to  assume  that  it  will  be  projected 


SUGGESTION  IN  EXPOSITION  123 


against  a  background  of  numerals  and  read  as  thirteen. 
But  if  we  place  the  word  Ethel  before  it  and  the  word 
JoTuts  after  it,  we  may  be  certain  that  it  will  be  thrown 
against  o  literal  background,  and  read  as  the  initial 
of  one  of  the  names  of  a  person.  In  nearly  every  case 
there  i?  a  preferential  background  against  which  an 
isolated  idea  will  be  normally  projected.  Naturally 
this  varies  according  to  the  content  of  the  individual 
mind.  But  examination  will  show  that  there  is  a  gen- 
eral as  well  as  a  personal  preferential  background  for 
each  idea.  It  is  useful  for  teachers  to  look  into  these 
preferences  both  personal  and  general. 

Take  the  case  of  homonyms.  If  the  word  one  is 
uttered,  most  people  who  hear  it  will  project  it  against 
a  numerical  background,  though  some  will  connect  it 
with  win.  So  with  the  word  two :  the  numerical  back- 
ground prevails,  though  in  this  case  there  are  three 
homonyms  to  choose  among.  It  is  clear  that  it  is  not 
mere  familiarity  with  the  word  that  determines  the 
choice  here,  for  to  occurs  more  frequoitly  in  ordinary 
reading  and  writing  than  does  two.  Speaking  generally, 
a  substantive  meaning  has  the  preference  over  a  tran- 
sitive *  meaning.  I  should  have  been  mclined  to  make 
the  statement  without  the  leservation,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  results  of  cortain  experiments  that  I  made  to 
verify  my  f^enl  impression,  which  was  based  <m 
ordinary  observation.  I  selected  five  homonyms 
and  pronounced  the  sounds '  to  various  classes  of  pupils 
who  were  instructed  to  write  down  without  hesitation 
the  word  that  occurred  to  them.  I  have  classified  the 

>  See  p.  43. 

'TheinvarisldeMqiMoeeof  tlwioiiiidi,Mdietetod,wu:  9m,bt, 

rain,  by,  to. 


124   EX70SITI0N  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

results  into  three  groups.  Group  I  (representing  the 
work  of  about  600  pupils)  includes  only  pupils  between 
9  and  10;  Group  II  (about  2500  pupils)  represents 
the  work  of  pupils  of  ages  varying  from  11  to  15, 
the  ages  being  pretty  evenly  distributed;  Group  III 
(close  on  500  persons)  gives  the  reactions  of  under- 
graduate students  of  ages  ranging  from  19  to  22:  — 


HoMomms 

Grocp  I 

G»ovr  II 

Osovr  in 

Pareantags 

Pero0utBC9 

One  

99.1 

96.3 

92.7 

Won  

.9 

3.7 

7.3 

Be  

96.6 

73.6 

47.1 

Bee  

3.4 

26.4 

40.0 

B  or  b '  .   .   .  . 

12.9 

99.4 

76.8 

86.0 

Reign  .... 

.6 

22.1 

11.2 

1.1 

2.8 

By  

96.6 

69.0 

52.7 

Buy  

1.7 

25.1 

38.1 

1.7 

5.9 

9.2 

Two  

3.7 

43.4 

77.2 

To  

92.6 

43.4 

12.6 

3.7 

13.2 

10.2 

Practical  teachers  will  have  little  difficulty  in  ac- 
counting for  the  differences  in  the  various  groups. 
Hie  little  children  took  the  point  of  view  of  the  dicta- 
tion lesson,  wad  if  they  did  happen  to  know  any  other 
form  than  the  obvioiis  one,  inferred  to  stick  to  what 

'  Groups  I  and  II  had  been  warned  that  loordf  wen  espeetod; 
this  accounts  for  the  absence  of  the  mere  letters  in  their  am. 


8UGOE8TION  IN  EXPOSITION  125 


they  were  quite  sure  of.   The  increase  in  the  percent- 
age of  less-known  words  is  quite  uniform  as  one  moves 
up  the  school,  and  closely  corresponds  to  the  school 
standing  of  the  pupils.   With  those  who  were  quite 
free  in  their  choice  —  that  is,  Group  III  —  there  is  a 
steady  preference  for  the  substantive  dement'  in 
every  case  but  in  that  of  By.   It  is  this  exceptional 
preference  for  a  transitive  element  that  made  me 
qualify  my  general  statement.   There  is  nothing  sur- 
prismg  m  this  preference  for  the  substantive  elements; 
these  form  the  natural  resting-places  of  thought. 
Besides,  the  other  words  that  do  not  carry  a  substantive 
element  depend  for  their  meaning  on  some  relation, 
and  rdationship  is  discounted  in  this  case  by  the  fact 
that  the  sounds  are  by  the  conditions  of  the  problem 
presented  in  isolation.   Accordingly,  non-substantive 
words  are  less  likely  to  arise  in  the  mind  as  compared 
with  the  words  indicating  substantive  ideas,  and  on 
that  account  carrying  an  environment  with  them. 

In  the  ease  of  homonyms  both  of  which  represent 
substantive  elements,  there  is  a  inreferwtial  back- 
ground in  favour  of  the  more  familiar.  Thus,  Rain 
clearly  outstrips  Reign,  and  that  agam  Rein.  We  more 
naturally  thmk  of  a  containing  vessel  than  of  an  eastern 
potentate  when  we  hear  the  sound  can  (Khan).  So 
with  the  word  vewel  that  has  just  been  used;  when 
taken  by  itself,  its  natural  background  is  the  sea. 
On  the  other  hand,  with  a  giv^  background  we  have 

*  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  got  a  higher  percentage  of  Bee'«  in  a  post- 
graduate cla«  (average  age  twenty-three)  than  I  did  w-ith  any  of  tiw 
undergraduate  classes;  but  the  numbers  are  too  small  (43  Bee' a  from 
a  class  of  70  atlidnti}  to  {wmitt  of  our  drawing  any  saUsfactoiy  con- 
cluakM. 


126  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEAOHINO 

no  hesitation  at  all  in  predicting  the  exact  sense  in 
which  a  given  word  will  be  accepted.   The  background, 

then,  is  of  fundamental  importance  in  suggestion.  In- 
deed, suggestion  often  implies  nothing  more  than  the 
calling  up  of  an  appropriate  background.  The  mind 
does  the  rest  for  itself. 

When  we  come  to  consider  more  exactly  the  nature 
of  suggestion,  we  find  the  usual  differences  of  opinion 
among  psychologists.  To  begin  with,  we  must  keep 
clearly  before  our  minds  that  we  are  concerned  not  with 
pathological  cases  but  with  normal,  healthy  people. 
There  is  a  wholesome  naturahiess  that  is  very  attractive 
in  the  view  supported  by  Mr.  W.  Macdougall,*  following 
G.  Tarde,  that  suggestion  may  be  regarded  as  a  direct 
manifestation  of  the  mode  of  behaviour  called  "imita- 
tion." But  while  many  educational  applications  may 
be  made  on  this  basis,  we  are  not  much  helped  by  it 
in  the  way  of  Exposition.  There  appears  to  be  a  very 
general  agreement  among  psychologists  that  suggestion 
is  ultimately  based  upon  association,  and  it  is  probable 
that  Mr.  Macdougall's  view  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
recognition  of  association  as  a  necessary  part  of  the 
devdopmerU  of  suggestion. 

Wundt  tells  us  that  "suggestion  is  an  association  ac- 
companied by  a  concentration  of  consciousness  on  the 
representations  engendered  [angeregten]  by  the  asso- 
ciation." *  He  limits  the  application  of  the  term  to 
"only  those  statra  of  consciousness  excited  within  us 
which  are  starong  enou|^  to  resist  —  at  least  for  the 

•  Social  Psychology,  p.  326. 

'  As  I  do  not  have  the  German  text  1^  me  at  the  moment,  I  quote 
from  Keller's  French  tnuMd»tion,  Bjffn«Hmt  «l  8vggnti0»  (Aleaa), 
p.  72. 


8UOGE8TION  IN  EXPOSITION  127 

moment -T- the  contrary  states  of  consciousness  that 
tend  to  destroy  them."  When  we  come  to  educational 
applications  of  the  term,  we  find  that  Professor  P.  F61ix 
Thomas  prefers  to  define  it  a&:  "The  mspu-ation  of  a 
belief,  the  true  grounds  for  which  escape  us,  which  with 
greater  or  less  force  tends  of  itself  to  realise  itself."  ' 
Thomas  supports  this  view  by  a  reference  to  J.  M. 
Guyau's  definition:  "the  introduction  of  a  practical 
belief  that  of  itself  realises  itself."*  Baldwin  regards 
suggestion  as  "the  tendency  of  a  sensory  or  an  ideal 
state  to  be  followed  by  a  motor  state,'"  and  quotes 
Janet's  formula:  "a  motor  reaction  brought  about 
by  language  or  perception."*  This  tendency  towards 
realisation  in  action  is  very  commonly  implied  in  the 
use  of  the  word  suggestion;  but  surely  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  assume  an  impulse  that  issues  m  an  overt  act. 
We  may  surely  suggest  a  line  of  thought  as  well  as  a 
line  of  action.   If  not,  then  suggestion  is  of  very  limited 
use  to  the  mere  expootor.  Sometimes  he  desires  his 
exposition  to  lead  to  a  certain  line  of  action,  as  we  shall 
see  in  the  chapter  on  the  Story  as  Illustration.  But 
it  will  frequently  happen  that  he  desires  no  more  than 
mental  activity.   This,  however,  should  satisfy  the 
psychologists    It  appears  to  satisfy  Mr.  MacdougaU, 
who  gives  us:  "Suggestion  is  a  process  of  communica- 
tion resulting  m  the  acceptance  with  conviction  of  the 
communicated  proposition  in  the  absence  of  logically 
adequate  grounds  for  its  acceptance."  »  Later  m  the 

*  £a  Svggettion  son  Rdle  dam  Vidueatim,  p.  30. 

*  EdvaOion  et  Hirediti,  p.  17. 

*  ^•»*»lI>n»hpmminth»ChmtmiAiBace,p.  105. 
«  Avt.  Psy.,  p.  218. 

*  Social  Payehtdoffy,  p.  97. 


128  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

chapter  we  shall  work  up  to  a  tuUer  description,  but  in 
the  meantime  it  must  be  understood  that  by  sugg^ion 
we  mean  the  manipulation  of  the  ideas  of  our  pupil 
so  as  to  produce  a  predetermined  result,  whether  in 
thought  or  action.  P'or  success  in  our  work  we  must 
depend  upon  the  Wundtian  concentration  of  conscious- 
ness on  associations. 

The  inspiration  that  leads  to  the  concentration  of  con- 
sciousness may  originate  from  within  or  from  without. 
If  it  comes  from  within,  we  have  what  is  commonly 
called  auto-suggestion.  It  is  sometimes  questioned 
whether  auto-suggestion  is  possible.  The  lay  witness 
quoted  on  page  1 1 7  would  certainly  deny  the  possibility. 
For  him  suggestion  necessarily  comes  from  without. 
Professor  Stout  would  at  first  sight  seem  to  be  on  the 
same  side,  if  we  identify  mental  activity  with  the  power 
of  initiative.  According  to  him,  mental  activity  implies 
that  mental  process  is  determined  purely  by  previous 
mental  process.*  But  even  if  we  cannot  produce  a 
single  "bit  of  mental  process  that  is  determined  purely 
from  within,"  it  does  not  follow  that  we  have  no  power 
of  initiation.  We  may  never  get  rid  of  a  certain  resid- 
uum of  stunulus  from  without,  but  all  that  this  un- 
plies  is  that  we  are  always  kept  in  touch  with  the  outor 
world,  a  condition  that  is  in  itself  desirable.  We  may 
be  able  to  remain  open  to  all  manner  of  external  sug- 
gestion, and  yet  have  the  power  to  concentrate  our  con- 
sciousness in  the  manner  Wundt  demands;  and  this 
concentration  may  fau-ly  be  said  to  determine  the  suc- 
ceeding process  in  consciousness.  Now  according  to 
Professor  S.  Alexander:  "  What  I  have  called  mental 
activity  is,  in  the  usual  language  of  psychology,  cona- 

«  Analytical  Psychology,  Vol.  I,  p.  148. 


SUGGESTION  IN  EXPOSITION  129 


tion."»  AutOHBuggestion  may  therefore  be  said  to 
occur  when  we  will  to  concentrate  our  consciousness 
on  certain  assooiations.  We  know  what  those  asso- 
ciations are,  and  we  have  a  sv;hematic  knowledge  of 
whither  they  are  likely  to  lead.  We  may  not  be  able 
to  call  up  directly  just  the  ideas  we  desire,  but  we  can 
put  ourselves  m  the  most  favourable  situation  to  en- 
counter them.  We  can  go  where  certain  classes  of 
ideas  are  to  be  found,  and  we  may  have  the  full  as- 
surance that  particular  ideas,  of  which  we  are  at  the 
time  of  beginning  our  quest  only  vaguely  conscious, 
will  by  and  by  sort  themselves  out  and  become  focal. 
Probably  pure  auto-suggestion  is  a  very  rare  phenome- 
non; but  m  any  case  it  does  not  directly  concern  us 
here,  for  the  suggestion  that  we  are  interested  in  is 
that  which  works  from  without,  "foreign  suggestion," 
as  it  is  called  by  Wundt  and  others. 

A  c^ain  confusion  between  auto-suggestion  and 
foreign  suggestion  sometimes  occurs  through  neglecting 
the  point  of  incidence  of  tiie  external  influmice.  Some- 
times this  Is  so  far  removed  from  the  point  at  which 
suggestion  begins  to  act  that  the  subject  has  forgotten 
all  about  the  external  force  (if,  indeed,  he  ever  observed 
it  as  such),  and  regards  his  action  or  thought  as  self- 
suggested.  Some  writers  aeoordingly  regard  the  t«m 
auto-sugpeation  with  suspicion,  and  one '  at  least  would 
like  to  use  the  descriptive  term  pseudo-atUo-miffget- 
tion,  were  it  not  so  intolerably  cumbersome. 

A  knowledge  of  the  working  of  auto-suggestion  may 
no  doubt  hdp  the  expositor  in  his  prdiminaiy  examina- 
tion of  the  mental  contoit  of  his  pupils.  A  skilful 

•  Proceedings  of  the  Atittotelian  Society,  1908,  p.  232. 

*  H.  M .  Keatinge,  SuggeaUon  m  Bdueatitn,  1907,  p.  55. 


130  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

obsarer  likeE.  A.  Poe's  Dupin  may  be  able  to  antici- 
pate the  developments  of  a  ramtal  train  self-origi- 
nated in  another  mind/  but  as  a  .natter  of  fact  the  ex- 
positor is  almost  entu-ely  interested  in  trains  of  thought 
that  he  has  himself  originated.   His  interest  is  prac- 
tically confined  to  foreign  suggestion,  though  it  has  to 
be  remembered  that  the  false  auto-suggestion  is  in- 
cluded under  this  term.   In  fact,  this  false  auto-sug- 
gestion is  by  far  the  most  effective  form.    It  greatly 
increases  the  power  of  suggestion,  if  what  is  really 
external  suggestion  should  appear  to  the  pupil  to  be 
autoHBUggestion.   The  further  back  we  can  throw  the 
incidence  of  the  external  influence  the  better  the  re- 
sults.  Indeed,  the  root  principle  of  the  skilful  use  of 
suggestion  is  to  make  the  mind  of  the  pupil  do  as  much 
of  the  work  as  possible.   Why  is  it  that  suggestion  is 
regarded  as  so  much  more  dangerous  m  morals  than 
direct  statement  or  demonstration  ?  It  is  because  sug- 
gestion merely  starts  a  process;  the  mind  carries  it  on, 
and  in  carrying  it  on  is  apt  to  think  that  it  is  acting 
on  its  own  initiative.     There  is  nothmg  so  pleasant  m 
mental  process  as  self-activity,'  and  if  the  mind  can  be 
made  to  feel  that  it  is  carrying  out  its  own  processes  in 
its  own  way,  it  works  with  its  nrm.TifTi^]in  vigour.  The 
further  back  the  impulse  from  without  can  be  thrown, 
the  greater  the  chance  of  the  pupil  thinking  that  in  a 
given  case  he  is  acting  on  his  own  initiative.  "Hus- 
band, voter,  or  pupil,  they  willingly  follow  a  suggestion 

•  Thouf^  even  her  the  ingenious  Dupin  really  owes  his  success  to 
his  power  of  anticipating  the  effects  on  the  given  mind  of  the  vaiioui 
external  stimuli  to  which  he  observes  it  to  be  exposed. 

» G)mpare  Whately's  explanation  of  the  fact  that  the  metaphor  is 
more  popular  than  the  simile :  "  All  men  are  more  gratified  at  catching 
die  resemblance  for  themselves  than  in  having  it  pointed  out  to  them." 


SUGQBBTION  IN  EXPOSITION  181 


whose  origiii  is  so  well  concealed  that  it  seems  to  be 
their  own."  * 

A  pupil  who  can  make  no  headway  with  a  difficult 

rider  in  geometry  may  be  helped  by  the  teacher  blimtly 
suggesting  that  the  solution  of  the  problem  lies  in  the 
demonstration  of  the  equality  of  two  angles,  CDE  and 
RPQ,  which,  from  their  position  on  the  drawing,  do 
not  seem  to  have  any  connection  with  each  other,  and 
certainly  do  not  appear  to  be  equal.  But  if  the  teacher, 
by  shifting  about  the  paper  on  which  the  drawing  is 
made,  is  able  to  place  it  so  that  the  equality  of  the 
angles  is  likely  to  strike  the  pupil's  eye,  he  will  set  up 
a  much  more  vigorous  reaction  than  by  merely  stating 
the  fact.  The  speaker  who  makes  hk  conclusion  fol- 
low unmediately  on  the  statement]  of  two  inwmises 
saves  time,  no  doubt,  but  does  not  have  the  same  ^ect 
upon  his  hearers  as  the  man  who  gives  one  premise 
at  one  time  and  the  other  a  little  later,  and  does  not 
give  the  conclusion  at  all,  but  takes  it  for  granted, 
and  uses  it  in  a  further  devdopmoit  of  his  thnne. 
This  is  the  method  of  the  successful  popular  lecturer, 
and  cannot  be  so  usefully  applied  in  the  case  of  diflS- 
cult  subjects  presented  to  listless  pupils.  Even  in 
such  adverse  circumstances,  however,  it  will  be  found 
that  an  obvious  inference  is  bette*  left  to  the  reluctant 
pupil.  After  all,  he  finds  it  less  disagreeable  to  draw 
his  own  obvious  conclusions  than  to  have  them  thrust 
upon  him  from  without. 

From  what  has  gone  before,  it  will  be  seen  that  there 
is  nothing  humiliating  to  the  pupil  in  being  thus  ma- 
nipulated; for  when  all  is  said,  the  success  <tf  the 
manipulation  depends  entir^  iqxm  tiie  nature  ai^ 


132  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

content  of  the  pupU-mind.  If  the  pupil  responds  to  the 
external  etimulus,  it  is  because  the  Btimulus  appeals  to 
his  nature.  He  responds  to  the  stimulus  because  it 

has  been  so  prepared  as  to  respect  his  individuality. 
All  the  same  there  is  a  very  natural  objection  to  a 
system  that  may  be  in  any  sense  described  as  "Educa- 
tion by  deception."    Dr.  Johnson  is  very  angry  with 
those  who  seek  to  manage  other  people  in  this  way. 
Nobody  likes  to  realise  that  he  is  managed  by  other 
people.    It  is  true  that  Mr.  Keatinge  tells  us  in  his 
book  on  Suggestion  that  "Boys  like  to  be  managed,"  ' 
but  he  certamly  knows  too  much  about  boys  to  mean 
that  they  like  to  be  managed  hi  this  msidious  way. 
What  he  means  is  probably  just  the  opposite.  Boys 
Uke  to  feel  that  they  are  in  the  hands  of  a  master, 
though  this,  again,  is  a  little  difficult  to  reconcile  with 
the  stress  he  lays  upon  the  "contrariant"  characters 
of  the  French  psychologists.    These  characters  are 
said  to  respond  in  the  opponte  sense  to  that  sug- 
gested.   In  the  case  of  rigid  contrariants  there  is  no 
difficulty,  since  all  the  suggester  has  to  do  is  to  change 
his  suggestion  from  the  positive  to  the  negative,  and 
the  demred  positive  results  will  follow.    With  the 
more  mtdligent  contrariants  the  attempt  to  use  sug- 
gestion resolves  itself  into  a  trial  of  wits  between  the 
suggester  and  the  subject,  each  trying  to  find  out 
what  the  other  really  wants.    It  is  because  of  the  prev- 
alence of  this  contrariant  spmt  that  the  mcidence  of 
the  external  suggestion  has  to  be  so  carefully  watched. 
Dr.  Sidis,  in  fact,  goes  the  length  of  regarding  the  con- 
trariant attitude  in  our  unhypnotised  state  as  the  nor- 
mal one,  and  enunciates  the  law  of  human  stubbom- 

•  p.  70. 


8UOOE8TION  IN  E.\»  OSITION 


138 


ness:  "Normal  suggestibiUty  varies  as  indirect  ■ugfn- 
tion,  and  inversely  as  direct  suggestion."  ' 

An  important  consideration  for  the  teacher  is  that 
■uggestion  works  in  only  one  way.   It  is  positive,  not 
negative.   By  suggestion  we  may  cause  another  person 
to  think  or  act  in  a  particular  way;  we  cannot  directly 
cause  him  not  to  think  or  act  in  a  particular  way.  The 
power  of  the  little  word  not  is  greatly  overrated  by  some 
teaehers.   They  are  apt  to  think  it  is  more  eflScacious 
to  say,  "Don't  use  non  with  the  unperative  in  Latin; 
use  nc,"  than  to  say,  "With  the  Latin  imperative,' 
when  we  wish  to  signify  negation,  we  always  use  ne." 
What  we  wish  to  impress  on  the  pupil's  mind  is  that  ne 
is  the  proper  word  to  use  under  certain  cu-cumstances. 
Accordingly,  we  ought  not  to  bring  in  the  word  non  at 
all.  With  regard  to  conduct,  the  word  not  is  very  weak 
as  a  suggestion.   In  the  early  part  of  last  century  th»e 
was  a  town  and  gown  riot  in  Aberdeen,  and  the  students 
were  not  having  the  best  of  it.   When  they  were  driven 
within  their  own  quadrangle,  and  had  no  avulable 
we^ns  the  old  principal,  disappomted  at  this  result, 
came  out  of  his  house,  and  shaking  his  fist  at  the  stu- 
dents, shouted  that  they  must  not  pull  up  the  palings  to 
use  as  clubs.    Even  had  the  old  gentleman  meant  the 
negation  seriously,  it  would  have  had  no  effect.  There 
was  only  one  wggettion  in  his  remark,  though  there 
were  two  possible  lines  of  conduct. 

Moral  questions  are  not,  however,  urgent  m  the  use 
to  be  made  of  suggestion  in  Exposition.  Our  interest  is 
rather  in  the  manipulation  of  ideas  than  in  the  particu- 
lar ideas  to  be  manipulated.  For  our  purpose  it  may 
be  pennitted  to  regard  suggestion  as  a  force  applied 


134  EXPOttTION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

from  without  bo  as  to  bring  into  action  organised 
powers  latent  in  tbc  mind  of  another,  and  by  utilising 
our  knowledge  of  their  orguiisatioii  to  came  these 
powers  to  act  in  a  direction  deiired  by  the  operator. 

A  static  result  is  not  enough.  If  we  bring  under  the 
notice  of  another  person  some  of  the  elements  of  a  back- 
ground that  we  know  has  previously  existed  in  his 
mind,  the  likelihood  is  that  this  background  will  be 
thereupon  reinstated.  II  this  is  all,  we  have  an  ex- 
ample of  redintegration,  and  the  process  may  not  be 
recognised  by  some  people  as  suggestion  at  all.  It  may 
be  held  that  suggestion  must  lead  to  a  definite  line 
of  mental  activity,  and  not  to  a  mere  reestablishment 
of  a  previous  state.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  redintegra- 
tion of  a  background  materially  affects  the  directi<m 
of  the  immediately  succeeding  activity.  A  reasonable 
description  of  the  function  of  suggestion  in  Exposition 
is  to  say  that  it  is  the  bringing  of  extei:nal  influence 
(by  means  of  words,  signs,  pictures,  models,  or  what 
not)  to  bear  upon  a  given  mind  so  as  to  make  it  ap- 
perceive  certain  ideas  in  a  way  predetermined  by  the 
suggester.  Since  apperception  is  an  active  procesi^ 
this  description  should  meet  the  case. 

In  teaching,  as  opposed  to  education,  suggestion  may 
be  regard  as  the  process  of  initiating  by  more  or  less 
indirect  means  certain  mental  processes  that  have  been 
so  organised  that  when  once  begun  they  are  carried 
out  automatically.  It  may  be  said  to  U.  he  tapping  of 
the  forces  stored  up  by  habit,  the  drawing  of  a  cheque 
on  the  paid-up  mental  capital.  We  cannot  suggest 
a  process  that  has  never  before  occurred  in  the  mind. 
We  fail  just  as  we  have  failed  when  we  have  a  cheque 
returned  to  us  from  the  bank  with  the  l^cend,  "No 


srooBsnoN  in  exposition 


185 


funds."  The  crudest  example  of  this  class  of  didactie 
suggestion  is  to  be  found  in  the  blunt  giving  of  a  few 
words  that  form  part  of  ^he  desired  answer.  Plain 
prompliiig  it  a  kmd  of  suggestion.  Teachers  some- 
times adopt  a  MTt  of  diaguM  prompting  that  Mtms 
to  givo  them  sitislaction  by  saving  them  from  the  dis- 
grace of  having  to  tell  something  that  they  feel  in  honour 
bound  to  eUcit.  The  pupils  in  one  case  could  not  be 
peraua*^  to  raswer  the  question,  "Which  Enghsh 
statesman  was  neqMBs^  for  the  loss  of  the  American 
colonies  ?  "  The  teadier  ei»!ouraged  them  by  telling 
them  that  they  knew  quite  well  if  th^r  would  only 
^inJc.  The-  bought;  but  without  success.  At  last 
we  teacher  au  inspiration,  and  asked,  "What 
i«  tie  opposite  of  soirtfcr '  8h»  wm  rewarded  with  the 
unanimous  nfiy,  "Lord  North."  » 

The  teacher  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  faet  that,  in 
addition  to  the  deliberate  and  accidental  suggestions 
of  the  moment,  there  are  certain  general  lines  of  sug- 
ge^n  that  work  m  a  more  permanent  way.  Most 
of  these  are  what  me(M  mm  would  eall  benevolent, 
but  some  are  malignant,  and  deserve  special  atten- 
tion. It  is  a  desu-able  thing  that  when  certain  ideas 
are  recalled  there  should  at  once  arise  by  suggestion 
certain  of  the  unportant  elements  implied  in  the  con- 
notation of  these  ideas.  But  if  only  trivial  elements 
are  suggested,  there  arises  the  danger  of  a  false  conoep- 
tion  of  the  idea  as  a  whole.   The  foUowing  extiact  from 

'  At  a  drawing-room  meeting  of  a  branch  of  the  Parents'  National 
Mucation  Union,  a  very  distinguished  London  physician  malntaiaed 
•  nat  ho  saw  nothing  wrong  with  this  example  of  the  UM  of  mugestion. 
On  the  contraiy,  he  believed  it  to  be  an  excellent  illustration,  and  a 
c^tkl  wfty  of  bringing  the  young  people  vO  the  point.  So  hard  is  it 
tobeeOdeiiltotwoprofeseioiw.  «wui.ii 


136  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

a  clevor  novd*  of  journalistic  and  artiitic  life  wdl 
illustrates  this  permanent  suggestion  of  superficial  ele- 
ments. The  scene  is  a  publishing  ofl&ce,  and  Mild- 
may,  the  art  editor,  is  discussing  with  Martin,  the 
literary  editor,  the  illustrations  submitted  for  an  Egyp- 
tian story  in  a  magazine.   Martin  begins:  — 

"  Where's  the  Sphinx?" 

"Not  mentioned  meopy,"  nid  IGldinay, moving  a  littte  farther 
behind  Martin's  chair. 

"  Where  are  the  Pyramids  r  " 

"Hie  story  contains  no  reference  to  the  Pjrramids,"  said  IGldmay, 

quietly. 

"But  —  but  —  but  —  you  Icnow  better  than  (Ao/,  Mildmay  I " 
the  editor  protested,  shoclced  and  trembling. 

*«•*•*« 

"Bat —  but — my  dear  chap !  Here's  a  story  about  Egjrpt,  and 
not  so  much  as  a  Sphinx  or  a  Pyramid  or  anjrtliing  at  all  to  suggest 

Egypt  in  it." 

"The  chap  who  drew  that,  Martm,  was  on  the  Conior,  ami  at 

Kassassin  and  Tel-el-Kebir." 

"Then  he  ought  to  know  better  than  to  send  us  a  drawing  like 

An  example  of  the  most  malignant  form  of  the  per- 
manent suggestion  is  to  be  found  in  the  denominators 
of  vulgar  fractions.  These  have  a  peculiarity  that  is 
often  disconcerting.  They  cany  over  to  their  frac- 
tional functions  the  associations  of  their  integer  con- 
nections, with  the  result  that  they  suggest  false 
estimates  of  the  values  of  fractions.  Some  highly 
intelligent  adults  suffer  from  this  permanent  auggettio 
falsi.  Most  of  us  have  come  across  men  who  belkved 
that  thdr  club  was  more  sdeet  than  anoth^,  beeaifi» 


^LUtbDtvaDMM:  Iqr  Oitver  Onions,  p.  290. 


SUGGESTION  IN  EXPOSITION  137 


was  necessary  to  have  only  a  fifth  of  the  balls 
black  before  rejection  foUowed,  while  in  the  other  dub 
it  required  a  tenth. 

Underlying  the  idea  of  percentage  is  the  permanent 
suggestion  of  considerable  numbers.  Not  infrequently 
illustrations  in  perooitages  conv^  a  false  impression 
on  this  account  — not  always  unintenticuially.  Un- 
scrupulous persons  quote  the  actual  figures  in  all 
cases  where  they  are  large  and  imposing,  and  when  they 
are  unpleasantly  small  represent  them  by  percentages. 
Grave  injus^  is  sometimes  done  by  the  necessity 
of  expressmg  certam  official  returns  in  uniform  tables. 
A  country  teacher  finds,  for  example,  that  her  ei|^th 
grade  is  listed  as  having  100  per  cent  of  failures  in 
a  certain  examination.  This  reads  Hke  a  complete 
breakdown  of  the  school,  whereas  all  that  it  means 
IS  the  complete  breakdown  of  duH  Jdin  town,  who 
happens  to  constitute  the  whole  of  tiie  eighth  grade  tar 
that  year.  Wherever  the  numbers  concerned  are  very 
small,  the  permanent  suggestion  should  be  corrected 
by  a  statement  of  the  actual  figures. 

The  following  quatrain  fnnn  B^ranger's  Les  Guetix 
proved  unaaqpeeledly  diiBealt  hi  an 
Frttich:  — 

"Vous  qu'aTJge  la  ditnaad, 
Croyei  que  plus  d'un  h^roi, 
Bum  fe  KNilier  qui  le  bleMe, 
fwt  ttgrtMtr  Mi  ■abota." 

On  investigation  I  found  that  the  cause  of  the  trouble 
was  the  force  of  the  permanent  suggestion  of  the  word 
ttn.  Though  the  students  all  knew,  of  course,  that  the 
word  eould  mean     a»  weU  ae  4  or  «»,  the  suggestiMi 


138  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


of  an  article  before  a  noun  was  so  overpowering  that 
most  of  the  pupils  had  to  make  the  best  they  could  of  the 
article-sense,  and  as  a  consequence  they  rang  the  varia- 
tions on  "more  of  a  hero."  A  similar  suggestion  played 
havoc  with  a  class  called  upon  to  read  at  sight  a  passage 
which  th«y  had  not  b^ore  seen  from  iho  Twelfth  Book 
of  the  JSneid :  — 

**  Ardentes  oculorum  orbes  ad  moenia  tonit 
TurlMdus,  eque  rotis  magnam  respezit  ad  uibem." 

e  the  class  had  never  encountered  the  enditie  qu$ 
in  this  collocation  with  e,  the  horse-suggestion  was  ov&i^ 
mastering,  supported  as  it  was  by  the  accompanying 
rotis.  The  majority  of  the  pupils  more  or  less  in- 
geniously apostrophised  a  hypothetical  horse. 

It  sometimes  occurs  that  relative  trams  acquire  a 
permanent  suggestivraess  that  leads  to  orror.  Towim 
on  the  east  coast  acquire  a  suggestion  of  eat^terliness. 
Most  people,  for  example,  who  have  not  had  their 
attention  specially  called  to  the  matter,  are  under  the 
impression  that  Edinburgh  is  farther  east  than  livot^ 
pool,  which  does  not  happen  to  be  true.  It  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  a  place  "west  of  the  Andes"  maybe 
"east  of  New  York."  The  expositor  must  be  continu- 
ally on  his  guard  against  these  permanent  suggestions. 

We  have  seen  that  the  range  of  suggestion  is  limited 
tothen^talctmtoitof  the  pupil.  We  can  suggest  to 
him  new  combinations  d  old  elements  of  experience ; 
but  we  cannot  suggest  new  experience.  Further,  we 
may  be  quite  aware  of  the  mental  content  of  the  pupil, 
and  yet  be  unsuccessful  in  suggesting  the  proper  ideas. 
We  are  familiar  with  the  ttcny  ot  the  American  who  in 
France  did  not  know  the  word  for  muilmxmis,  but  made 


BUGOBBTiOir  Df  BXFOSITION  139 

a  sketch  of  one,  and  had  the  mortification  of  being 
offered  an  umbreUa.  Pateographers  tell  us  that  the 
eariy  leonographs  and  ideographs  are  exceedingly  sug- 
gestive. But  when  tested  by  application  to  modem 
pupils,  It  is  not  found  that  they  make  the  proper 
suggestion.   The  accompanying  two  drawings  are  re- 


rta.  1. 


productions  of  er  -ly  Chinese  iconographs.  They  are 
mwely  diffwent  ways  of  representing  the  same  thing. 
But  thou^  the  pupfl  has  thus  a  doable  chance,  it 
becomes  clear  on  making  the  experiment  with  a  cUm 
that  none  of  the  pupils  can  guess  what  the  drawings 
ought  to  suggest.  Yet  the  palaeographer  tells  us  that 
this  IS  regarded  as  "an  exceedingly  clever  abbreviation 
of  a  pictorial  representation  <rf  flame." »  ThefoUowmg 
are  regarded  also  as  particularly  suggestiye,  but  to 
English  pupils,  at  any  rate,  thor  hm  pioved  quito 
unmtelligible. 


Tm.  2. 


Accompanied  by  the  interpretation,  all  these  icono- 
graphs are  intelligible  enough,  and  the  symbolism  is 

'  M.  J.  B.  Silveatte:  PaUogntfkit  wwrirwlh. 


140  RXPOSinON  AND  ILLUaTRATION  IN  TBAOHINQ 

quite  apparent,  but  in  themselves  they  suggest  nothing. 
With  the  two  following  drawings  as  i^ey  stand 


I  had  no  success  whatever  in  eliciting  the  meaning 
from  a  class  of  intelligent  students  of  average  age  22. 
But  when  the  hAp  was  given  that  they  pictured  male 
human  beings  who  stood  in  a  certain  family  relationship 
to  one  another,  and  that  the  silhouettes  were  taken  from 
early  Chinese  writing,  nearly  half  of  the  class  were 
able  to  respond  to  the  suggestion,  and  declared  than 
to  be  father  and  son,  the  suppliant  attitude  oi  the  son 
and  the  protecting  attitude  of  the  father  being  quite 
what  one  would  expect,  in  view  of  what  one  hears  d 
the  filial  relation  in  China. 

A  similar  difficulty  in  applying  Suggestion  is  experi- 
enced in  attempting  to  reproduce  in  granhic  form  certain 
states  of  mind.  No  doubt  Sir  Charies  Bell  *  and  others 
have  succeeded  in  r^resenting  very  faithfully  some  of 
the  stronger  emotions.  But  unobservant  people  fre- 
quently misunderstand  excellent  graphic  presentations 
of  human  facial  expression,  and  when  we  deal  with  leas 
skilful  presentations,  even  intdUient  readers  do  not 
always  respond  successfully  to  the  sugr:estions  offered. 
M.  Maurice  Castellar,  in  illustrating  the  practical  side  of 
expression,  givra  nine  photographs  of  persons  whose  at- 
titudes and  facial  expressions  are  supposed  to  indicate 


Flo.  s. 


'  Anatomy  <^  Sxpnuim  in  Painting  (1806). 


SUGOBBTION  Df  EXPOSITION  141 


certain  states  of  mind  that  are  set  forth  m  the  explana- 
tory letterpress  that  accompanies  them  in  his  book.' 
Theie  are  in  all  seventeen  individual  figures,  and  m 
only  four  <rf  these  did  an  Intelligent  class  of  students  hit 
upon  the  state  of  mind  that  was  deaeribed  in  tike  ex- 
planatory letterpress.  Still,  when  the  letterpress  was 
read,  the  students  were  willing  to  admit  that  the  photo- 
graphs might  be  said  to  represent  quite  well  what  was 
wanted. 

In  the  use  of  suggestbn  it  is  dmoualy  of  impprtanee 
to  discover  the  least  possible  amount  of  energy  to  be 
used  to  produce  a  given  effect.  We  must  seek  out  the 
minimum  suggestible.  It  is  sometimes  discussed  how 
much  of  a  given  complex  must  be  presented  before  the 
whole  is  suggested  to  the  mmd.  There  can  be  no 
quantitative  answer.  We  have  no  standard.  Eveiy- 
thmg  depends  upon  our  familiarity  with  the  complex 
in  question.  The  case  is  sometimes  put:  How  much 
^  the  stag  must  appear  above  the  crest  of  the  hill 
before  the  hunter  is  eertam  that  he  is  dealing  with  a 
stag?  Clearly,  it  all  d^endson  the  hunter.  There 
are  some  hunters  who  would  require  to  see  pretty  nearly 
the  whole  animal  before  they  would  be  certain,  while 
others  respond  to  suggestion  at  the  first  appearance  of 
thetipof  theantletB. 

With  an  object  for  wfaidi  we  are  not  prepared  (the 
stag-hunter  is  assumed  to  have  been  waiting  for  a  stag), 
we  cannot  say  which  element  it  is  that  suggests  the 
complex.  It  does  not  come  to  us  piecemeal,  but  as  a 
whole.  Going  along  a  crowded  street,  we  find  ourselves 
thinking  of  a  certain  friouL  Suddenly  we  become  con- 
■aous  that  there  he  is,  a  few  steps  la  front  of  us.  The 

*  L'AH  d$  POntmt:  FMb,  lOQS. 


142  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

thought  of  him  h&j  bet^n  suggested  to  us  by  the  appeal 
of  some  of  his  physical  qualities.  If  we  are  asked  how 
we  knew  it  was  he  from  the  mere  appearance  of  his 
back,  we  find  it  difficult  to  say,  and  what  we  say, 
remember,  is  pure  theory.  The  fact  that  it  is  we  who 
have  seen  and  recognised  the  man  gives  our  evidence 
no  more  authority  than  that  of  anyone  else;  for  the 
recognition  was  not  made  deliberately.  Very  probably 
the  peculiarities  that  we  select  as  distinguishing  our 
friend  had  little  to  do  with  our  recognition.  We  did 
not  observe  this  thing  and  that,  then  reason  out  that  it 
must  be  So-and-so;  So-and-so  sprang  ready-made  into 
our  consciousness.* 

The  fact  seems  to  be  that  if  the  different  elements  of 
a  complex  are  firmly  welded  together,  that  complex  can 
be  suggested  only  as  a  whole.  If  we  wish  to  recall  to 
the  mind  of  another  the  idea  of  a  cow,  we  can  do  so  by 
appealing  to  various  souses,  but  so  soon  as  the  cow 
appears  she  appears  as  a  whole;  it  is  not  a  matter  of 
one  part  appearing  and  being  followed  by  another. 
Further,  the  cow  that  does  appear  is  always  the  same 
cow  for  the  same  mind.  We  have  all  only  one  avail- 
able cow  as  idea.  This  idea  may  be  aroused  at  any 
moment  by  the  d^t  of  the  word  cow,  or  by  the  pro- 
nunciation of  that  word,  or  by  the  lowing  of  some  unseen 
animal,  or  by  the  peculiar  odour  that  we  associate  with 
cowsheds,  or  by  the  sound  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  bell. 
However  aroused,  the  resulting  idea  of  cow  in  our  mind 
is  the  same,  if  it  be  allowed  to  develop  to  its  full  extent. 
The  prefored  sense  will  no  doubt  have  its  ^ect  in  the 

*  For  an  ingenious  theoiy  th%t  does  not  agree  with  the  above,  see 
Dr.  W.  T.  Harrii'8  PtfteMogie  F^tmdatimt  tf  BduoaUm,  Cbupt.  IX 
•ndX. 


BUOOBSTION  IN  BZPOSITION  143 


setting  in  which  the  cow  will  be  found,  but  the  cow 
itself  will  be  the  same,  however  recalled.  To  be  sure, 
this  ideal  cow  is  capable  of  improvanent.  Increasing 
experience  of  cows  gives  the  idea  greater  (Mmtent.  But 
such  a  change  is  gradual.  It  remams  true  that  for  a 
given  stage  the  available  mental  cow  is  constant  for 
the  individual.  For  suggestion  this  is  the  only  cow. 
Changes  can  be  effected  only  by  supplying  means  of 
observation. 

The  question  is  sometimes  raised  whether  we  are 
morally  justified  in  using  suggestion  in  such  a  way 
that  the  person  operated  on  does  not  know  that  sug- 
gestion is  bemg  used.   Note  that  stress  is  laid  on 
the  fact  that  the  person  affected  is  not  aware  that  he  is 
the  subject  of  suggestion.  But  as  a  mattor  of  fact,  if 
the  person  knows  that  suggestion  is  being  used,  it  is  no 
longer  a  case  of  suggestion.    If  we  openly  advise  a 
man  to  follow  a  particular  line  of  conduct,  we  may  be 
said  in  a  certain  sense  to  make  suggestions.   We  may 
even  put  our  advice  in  the  very  form  of,  "Well,  I  would 
suggest  — "   But  this  is  quite  a  different  process  from 
that  we  have  been  considering  in  this  chapter,— the 
problem  of  the  sanction  of  suggestion  solvitur  amhu- 
Umdo.   Whethw  we  will  or  no,  we  are  continually 
usmg  suggestion  in  the  sense  in  which  we  understand 
it  here.   It  is  true  that  we  may  .use  it  scnnetimes  more, 
sometimes  less,  deliberately.    But  even  so,  the  problem 
has  to  be  carried  a  step  farther  back  before  it  is  worth 
discussing.   Not  the  use  of  suggestion,  but  the  pre- 
paring the  mind  for  suggestion,  is  the  responsible 
work.   Suggestion  is  powerless  to  do  anything  but  set 
in  motion  forces  that  are  latent  but  none  the  lass  ex- 
istent.  The  sight  of  means  to  do  ill  deeds  makes  ill 


144  EXPOnnON  AKD  ILLUITEATI<nr  m  TIAOHIlia 

deeds  done,  only  when  the  ill  deeds  are  already  within 
the  mental  ecmtoit  of  the  perwm  tempted.  Sugges- 
tion is  powerful  only  in  so  far  as  it  f ollowa  the  laws  and 

takes  account  of  the  content  of  the  mind  operated  upon. 
This  is  the  psychological  explanation  of  the  saying  that 
to  the  pure  all  thin^  are  pure.  No  amount  of  sugges- 
tion can  evoke  from  the  mind  ideas  that  are  not  there. 

Still,  it  oannot  be  doiied  that  suggestion  is  capable 
of  illegitimate  apidioations.  It  is  significant  that  the 
word  is  only  now  emerging  from  a  very  discreditable 
association  in  the  dictionary,  and  even  still  the  adjec- 
tive suggestive  connotes  a  special  and  particularly 
vile  class  of  things  to  be  suggested.  But  the  fact  that 
the  process  is  Tec<^;ni8ed  as  preemin^%'  dangerous 
is  only  an  argument  the  more  for  the  educator  seizing 
this  specially  powerful  means  of  influencing  his  pupils. 
If  it  can  so  easily  lead  pupils  wiong,  it  is  surely  our  duty 
to  learn  how  to  use  it  on  the  side  of  right.  There  is 
no  reason  why  evil  should  monopolise  suggestion. 

From  the  moral  standpoint,  the  purpose  of  education 
is  really  to  make  the  pupil  suggestible  to  certain  in- 
fluences. The  good  boy  is  the  boy  who  responds  to 
suggestion  in  the  way  that  his  teacher  regards  as  right. 
In  intellectual  instruction  the  same  may  be  said.  The 
boy  who  knows  a  subject  really  well  is  the  boy  who  can 
be  depended  upon  to  respond  loyally  to  suggestion  in 
his  subjects.  Suggestion,  while  a  valuable  means  of 
Exposition,  is  also  in  itself  one  of  the  goals  of  intellect 
tual  educati<m. 


CHAPTER  VI 


CoNDRiom  OF  Pbssintation 

Pbisiiitation  18  one  of  the  Five  Formal  Steps  that 
■re  now  the  common  propoty  of  all  who  deal  with 
method  in  teaching. 

The  very  name  Formal  Steps  implies  two  underlying 
assumptions.  It  takes  for  granted,  in  the  first  place,  that 
it  is  possible  to  separate  form  from  matter  in  teaching. 
One  may  be  a  little  surprised  to  find  in  these  steps  that 
originated  with  Herbart  this  emphasis  on  the  formal 
side.  The  usual  criticism  against  him  and  his  followers 
is  that  they  attach  undue  importance  to  the  nature  of 
the  matter  to  be  presented  to  the  pupil.  According 
to  them  a  man  is  what  he  is  because  he  knows  what 
he  knows.  When  we  find,  thai,  that  the  Herbartians 
commit  themselves  to  form  at  all,  we  may  take  it  for 
certain  that  the  matter  to  be  taught  is  not  neglected. 
The  Formal  Steps  are  a  statement  of  the  process  of 
teaching,  with  the  minimum  reference  to  the  nature  of 
the  matter  to  be  taui^t.  We  ean  never  ratably  elimi- 
nate consideration  of  the  subject-matter  of  instruction, 
but  in  the  formal  steps  it  is  maintained  that  the  separa- 
tion of  form  and  matter  has  been  carried  to  the  ulti- 
mate point.  By  following  these  steps  it  is  claimed  that 
the  teacher  will  best  guide  the  pupil  in  the  process  of 
learning,  and  that  with  tiie  minimum  oonsidinitioii  of 
th«  nature  of  the  matter  to  be  learned. 

I'  146 


146  BXPOtrriON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINO 


The  second  assumption  is  that  instruction  should 
proceed  by  definite  steps.  Comenius  warns  us  with 
some  energy,  and  not  a  little  repetition,  that  nature 

never  proceeds  by  leaps,  but  always  by  steps.  Herbart 
has  taken  this  warning  to  heart,  and  has  systematised 
the  steps  m  teaching  that  he  believes  nature  would  have 
us  follow.   We  must  not  confound  the  need  for  step- 
wise progresdon  with  the  tpeed  with  which  progress 
IS  accompUshed.   Whatever  nature  may  do,  childien 
certainly  sometimes  appear  to  proceed  by  leaps  in  their 
thinking.   We  often  accuse  them  of  jumping  to  con- 
clusions.  But  this  does  not  show  that  they  have  not 
proceeded  stepwise,  unless  by  stepwise  we  mean  that 
every  step  must  be  deUbmtely  taken.   The  fact  that 
I  go  upstairs  three  steps  at  a  time  does  not  prove  that 
I  am  not  going  upstairs.    I  proceed  stepwise,  though  I 
take  big  steps,  and  though  I  do  not  take  every  indi- 
vidual step  that  I  might.   The  clever  pupU  mav  pass 
over  many  steps  that  the  teacher  nmy  feel  caUed'  upon 
to  deal  with  in  class,  and  the  stupid  pupil  frequMitly 
requires  additional  steps  to  be  interpolated  between 
what  may  be  regarded  as  the  normal  steps;  but  both 
kmds  of  pupils  are  proceeding  along  in  the  same  du-ec- 
tion,  covering  the  same  course,  though  the  one  has  to 
touch  the  ground  much  more  frequently  than  does  the 
other.   The  number  of  steps  to  be  taken  is  one  ques- 
tion, —  and  in  itself  a  very  important  one,  particularly 
m  relation  to  class-work,  —  the  order  in  which  these 
steps  have  to  be  taken  is  another.   It  is  mainly  with 
the  order  of  the  steps  that  Herbart  deals  when  he 
speaks  of  the  Formal  Steps. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Presentation  does  not  occur  among 
the  steps  originaUy  suggested  by  ileroart.   These  were 


CONDITIONS  OF  PRESENTATION  147 


only  four,  named  respectively,  Clearness,  Association, 
System,  Method.*   These  names  are  not  very  suitable 
as  deflcriptions  of  processes,  so  later  writers  have  m- 
troduced  certain  ehangw.  The  firat  §tep,  that  which 
leads  to  dearaem  in  the  pupil'a  mind,  is  really  made  up 
of  two  processes,  and  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  a 
double  step.    The  first  of  these  processes  consists  of 
analysis:  the  contents  of  the  pupil's  mind  must  be 
analysed  so  that  he  may  be  prepared  to  receive  the  new 
matter.   The  second  consists  in  a  eyntheris  of  the  new 
matter  with  the  old.    The  analytic  step  has  been  named 
preparation,  and  the  synthetic,  presentation.    It  may 
not  be  amiss  here  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  prepara- 
tion in  this  sense  means  preparation  of  the  pupil's  mind, 
not  the  teacher's.  There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  dis- 
cussion about  the  naming  of  the  different  steps.  Prob- 
ably the  most  widely  accepted  nomenclature  of  the 
five  steps  now  generally  recognised  is.  Preparation, 
Presentation,  Association,  Generalisation,  and  Applica- 
tion.' 

It  is  sometimes  held  that  in  the  first  two  steps  we  are 
working  on  the  perceptual  plane.  Certain  elements  of 
our  past  experience  have  been  combined  with  certain 
new  elements;  but  that  is  all.  The  new  wholes  thus 
formed  are  yet  mere  units,  though  they  are  in  them- 
selves complex.  They  must  now  bo  brought  into  rela- 
tion with  other  wholes.  At  this  stage  we  are  not  very 
particular  which  other  simple  o-  complex  units  they 
are  brought  into  relation  with.   What  we  want  is  to 

'  Allgemeine  P&dagogik,  Book  II,  Chap.  2. 

>  For  a  tabular  presentation  of  the  vaitotu  daadficatioos  of  the 
Steps  by  the  foUowen  ci  Herfaart,  see  p.  l3Sfot  Ghartes  de  Ganno's 
ir«r»wi  in  the  OfMl  AhMtfort  Arte. 


148  mxrotmm  ahd  tuxmamnaK  m  tiacsinq 

Mag  tiM  Mir  «yt  into  relation  with  as  m.    •  other 
iniiteMw»kftvea4oiir«ipoMl.  To  bring  t  about, 
the  best  means  is  easy  discusaioii,  not  is  tito  mom  <rf 
argument,  but  rather  in  that  of  free  conversation.  The 
teacher  can  work  up  trie  association  of  a  subject  in 
different  ways.        may  suggest  as  many  simil  ir  idea 
h»  can,  and  tkus  eooouragt  comparisoi.  mf  h  a  view 
to  Mbi^  oat  nmmhkmom.  Or  bo  may  call  ap  as 
many  contrary  idea  astheexperienotolhipupfeiaup- 
pLes,  and  thus  lead     arrest  by  force  r  contra-^*  withm 
t^same  field.    Or  he  mi^y  ciiange  the  poin   of  %  ew 
fimaiAi^  the  newly  presented  ideas  are  to  be  vie%v.  d, 
and  thai  ihow  thrai  up  aftinst  different  bacigr  un^  . 
The  purpose  of  this  third  formal  step  —  caM  Anocia 
m  —  is  to  fi  id  the  true  place  of  the  new  >mbhui^ 
m  the  nature  of  things  as  represented  b^   hep  se. 
e^Wt  of  the  mind  in  .  uestion.    '^he  assoeiiitioi  . 
i«Md  at  mB  stage  may  be  of  a  purely  aecKfcntal 
«racter.    Naturally  moat  ef  the  iim  wMi 
the  n»  wly  acrmired  elements  are  "ompan^d  or  ct  .  trastef ' 
have  something  in  common.    But  in  t  -ni  .g  over  ic 
ia  the  mind,  combinations  of  pur  v  dih  arat  ideas  r 
tequently  be  formed.    The  cc  nplfxes  th     foi  .e^ 
are  a  i  this  stage  not  <rf  p-^aty  f  mm^maat  tho^ 
they  should  all  be  abl^"  t.  jea  co?  im^t&n 

with  an  objective  standaj  '  #  sati  aimed 
at  is  the  familiarismg  of  ae  aev^  ^ms&i  with  sh^ 
wwocBdi  tgH  in  the  mind. 

The  nast  ttep,  eaUed  rkneralmett'  ,  goes  lu.  r 
Like  association  it  impUes  he  grouping  tog^her  ai  ibe 
elemt^ntf  A  experience,  but  as  tim.  the  grouping  is  no 
longer  a  matte  r  of  char  ge  or  arbitrary  choice.  We 
have  to  advance  from  ii^ere  gro..i»ng  to  system. 


ooHMTioiis  Of  rtammtfAtiOK  149 


Afi^iation  Bupplies  us  with  the  materials  for  forming 
ceaeepts,  but  it  is  >  ae  work  of  the  GeDeralisaticm 
to  develop  the  oonoept.    This  is  why  the  step 
s  variously  named  System,  Concentration,  and  Q«Deiw 
a  isation.    Underlying  each  of  the  elements  joined  to- 
gf  tber  at  the  step  of  Association,  there  is  a  deeper 
mc^oinfr    an  appears  ai  the  first  casual  glance.  At 
tte  amsi.mmmtl  ttafle  we  ngnd  thia  diair  ap  ^  that  as 
s^'-.  mmgm  objects.  They  are  no  doiiM  t  *aled  to 
ts  inasmuch  as  tl  .  all  coexist  in  time  and 
I  the  essential  om    ss  of  all  chairs  is  rp  Ily 
«      e  an  early  stage.   The  child  beh nves 
iatielligt    iy  to«  ^  a  chair  that  he  has  not  seen  before 
if  he  has  already  h«d  dealittgB  with  a  f«ir  dMiM,  or 
vv  1th  only  one  if  the  new  chi.  r  is  not  too  unlike  the  first. 
But  he  does  not  recUiae  this  oneness  till  he  has  had  it 
brought  to  consciousness  by    process  of  generalisation. 
The  process  of  general!      a  is  apparently  a  very 
eempieated  one,  and  who^     reflect  that  it  implies  as 
a  necessary  preluninary  ^  d  abstwwtion,  we 

seem  to  have  ruled  it  out  <  idtogether  so  far  as 

young  pupils  are  concerned.  .  as  a  matter  of  fact 
it  is  not  necessary  to  go  through  the  complete  process 
of  philoeophioal  genmlkntion  in  the  junior  school- 
room. Without,  of  course,  knowing  of  the  eodstenee  <^ 
such  a  thing  as  the  self-consdoui  level,  the  very  young- 
est pupils  •er.eralise  with  ease.  It  i«  indeed  the  fatal 
ease  with  which  they  generalise  that  calls  for  such  care- 
ful treatment.  It  is  not  the  difficulty  in  getting  them 
to  generalise  that  need  ooncem  Uie  teacher,  but  the 
difficulty  of  preventag  them  from  generalising  wMfy. 
Children  begin  to  generalise  in  their  nurse's  arms. 
When  a  child  calls  a  cat  a  bow-wow,  or  a  dog  a  pussy, 


150  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TBATI0N  IN  TBACHINQ 

we  say  he  generaUses  rashly.   As  a  matter  of  fact  he 
guilty  of  an  undistributed  middle.   But  the  appeal  to 
reason  at  this  stage  is  out  of  the  question.   Not  rea- 
soning is  wanted,  but  experience. 

To  avoid  rash  generalisations  the  association  step 
must  be  carefuUy  made.   Ordinary  experience  secures 
that  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  association  step 
is  sufficiently  elaborated  to  prevent  at  least  such  rash 
generalisations  as  are  dangerous.    In  actual  teachmg 
the  association  step  can  be  so  manipulated  as  to  meet 
the  special  needs  of  the  generalisation  about  to  be  made 
in  the  noxt  step.   For  instance,  if  the  teacher  is  afraid 
that  the  pupils  are  likely  to  fall  into  Sir  Thomas 
Browne's  rash  generalisation  and  maintain  that  no 
quadruped  lays  eggs,  the  conversation  at  the  associa- 
tion stage  may  be  directed  to  frogs,  crocodiles,  and  such 
troublesome  exceptions  to  an  otherwise  unobjectionable 
generalisation.    The  value  of  the  conversational  method 
lies  in  the  fact  that  it  turns  attention  in  a  great  variety 
of  directions,  and  thus  brings  forward  collocations  of 
facts  that  produce  healthy  contradictions,  and  prevent 
generalisations  that  otherwise  might  have  passed  mus- 
ter.  The  greater  the  knowledge  the  teacher  possesses 
of  the  content  of  the  minds  of  his  pupils,  the  more 
effectively  can  he  direct  the  course  of  the  association 
step.    But  even  with  the  best-mformed  teacher  there 
must  always  remain  a  vast  unexplored  region  of  the 
pupil-mhid  which  can  be  best  dealt  inth  by  the  free 
course  of  conversation. 

Once  the  generalisation  has  been  obtamed,  there  is 
room  for  ingenuity  in  the  way  of  fixing  it  in  the  memory 
of  the  pupils.  The  apt  phrase,  the  epigrammatic 
definition,  the  broad  ^neral  rule  an  all  here  in  place. 


CONDITIONS  OF  PBISBNTATiON 


161 


Even  the  moral,  if  wdl  expttmid,  may  have  its  claims 
recognised  on  the  condition  that  it  has  been  worked 

for  by  the  pupU.  When  once  the  moral  has  been 
worked  for  and  expressed  in  the  pupil's  blundering 
language,  there  can  be  no  harm  in  translating  his  halt- 
ing sentences  into  crisp  English. 

The  final  step  is  named  ilppitcflrfion.   We  must  not 
rest  content  with  imparting  facts,  correlating  th^ 
with  facts  already  known,  and  deducmg  from  them  the 
underlying  meaning.    They  remain  as  mental  lumber 
tiU  th^  are  applied  in  actual  life.    It  is  one  thing  to 
know:  it  is  quite  anotiier  to  be  able  to  use  knowledge. 
A  very  useful  classification  of  our  pupils  may  be  made 
on  this  point.    There  are  those  who  have  much  more 
knowledge  than  they  can  make  use  of,  and  those  who 
could  make  use  of  much  more  knowledge  if  they  had  it 
We  are  familiar  In  school,  and  perhaps  more  familiar 
still  in  ordmary  life,  with  ih»  paeon  that  can  make  a 
httle  knowledge  go  a  very  long  way.  and  also  with  the 
person  that  is  full  of  knowledge  and  cannot  make  any 
use  of  It.   A  good  method  of  Exposition  must  do  some- 
ttmg  towards  bringing  these  two  extremes  together. 
The  earlier  of  the  formal  steps  provide  the  knowledge 
m  the  best  form:  the  final  st^  sees  that  this  knowledge 
gets  a  field  on  which  it  can  be  exercised. 

It  is  quite  possible  for  the  pupU  to  have  a  piece  of 
knowledge  without  being  at  aU  able  to  use  it.  In 
several  hundred  dassee  I  have  held  up  a  six-inch  f oun- 
tain  pen  and  mvited  the  pupOi  to  teU  me  how  tong 
a  half  of  three-quarters  of  it  was.  I  had  Imt  a  mall 
percentage  of  answers.  Yet  the  moment  the  prob- 
iMn  was  stated  on  the  blackboard  as  "Find  the  value 
of  ose4ttlf  of  three-fourths  of  six  inches,"  most  of  the 


i 


152  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

pupils  were  indignant  at  being  asked  such  an  easy  one.* 
This  final  step,  then,  is  the  place  for  exercises  of  all 
kinds.  Till  the  pupil  has  applied  his  knowledge  in  some 
way,  it  is  not  really  knowledge  to  him.  It  is  something 
inert,  dead,  useless.  When  the  application  step  has 
bem  completed,  the  knowledge  is  living;  fact  has  been 
turned  into  faculty.  This  may  not  unfitly  be  described 
as  the  aim  of  the  whole  series  of  formal  steps.  They 
havv^  served  their  purpose  if  they  have  so  presented  and 
manipulated  the  facts  that  they  have  become  faculty. 

Two  eomxacm  lines  oi  orrar  in  tlie  iqqHiefttiim  dt 
these  Formal  Steps  have  dom  mudi  to  diminkih  ib/eSt 
usefulness. 

In  the  first  place  there  is  a  tendency  among  the  more 
matter-of-fact  teachers,  those  who  are  just  a  little  above 
the  rate  ai  tiiumb,  to  empharise  unduly  Uie  seecmd  stop. 
To  such  uItnH»racttoal  teadieni  PMsmtation  is  the 
only  step  that  need  be  seriously  considered.  It  is  the 
one  bright  gleam  of  light  in  an  otherwise  dark  system. 
To  present  new  ideas  to  the  pupil's  mind:  that  is  teach- 
ing. All  the  other  steps  are  more  or  less  pedantic 
nfinen^ts,  bat  Presentation' is  scmietibii^;  real,  scmk^ 
thing  tiiat  commends  itself  to  a  man  of  common  s^ise. 
Yet  as  a  matter  of  fact  complete  Presentation  is  pos- 
sible c  rtly  in  so  far  as  all  the  other  steps  are  taken.  It 
may  seem  trifling  to  say  that  the  mind  can  accept  only 
what  it  has  been  prepared  for;  but  the  etmstaiit  nef^eet 
of  this  comnumi^e  is  the  cause  of  much  unsuccessful 
teaching.  The  practical  teacher  is  right  in  seizing 
upon  Presentation  as  being  the  most  impcitjjt  of 

'  As  Ulustrating  the  power  of  the  mere  forii  of  cxpre&>.  a,  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  I  got  somewhftt  bet>«r  remits  wtaen  I  asked 
for  tiMM  I  did  vhsB  t  adtid  f or  •  half . 


OONDITKWB  OF  PRBSBHTATK)!! 


158 


the  five.  It  may  not  unreasonably  be  maintained 
that  the  whole  five  steps  are  cmly  different  aspects  of 
Presentation  in  its  wide  sense.  But  we  must  not  eon- 
fuse  a  special  aspect  of  Presentation  separated  off  from 
the  others  and  labelled  the  second  step,  with  Presenta- 
tion as  a  name  for  the  whole  process  that  cannot  be 
completed  without  the  whole  five  stepe. 

The  view  that  all  teaching  resolves  itsdf  into  the 
direct  giving  of  information,  the  telling  the  pupil 
something  new,  has  produced  a  natural  reaction  which 
leads  to  error  in  the  application  of  presentation,  or 
rather  by  the  elhninatkm  of  presentation.  From 
then-  studies  m  theory  young  teaehm  an  inclined  to 
avoid  anything  in  the  form  of  dkect  presentatloo. 
The  second  step,  while  stUl  monopoliaing  their  aUen- 
tion,  is  regarded  with  suspicion.    What  is  contemp- 
tuously ealled  "tdling"  is  regarded  by  these  young 
teachers  as  in  the  h%hert  degree  unintelUgent  and  un- 
scientific, and  they  fall  mto  ludicrous  enon  ia  tM 
efforts  to  avoid  it.    Everything  must  be,  in  the  words 
of  their  text-books,  "eUcited  from  the  pupU  by  skilful 
questifming."   They  do  not  realise  that  there  are  two 
kmds  of  knowledge:  inte  that  must  be  communicated 
directly,  and  another  that  may  be  wmked  up  tnm 
materials  ahready  in  the  mind.   We  want  very  baiBy 
a  couple  of  words  to  keep  these  two  kinds  of  know- 
ledge from  getting  mixed.   I  cast  covetous  eyes  on  the 
two  words  ^onnofieii  aud  instruction.   The  first 
would  v«y  weU  represent  the  eoramunieatifm  of  new 
facts,  the  second  might  stand  for  the  rearrangeraenl  of 
facts  that  are  abeady  known  to  the  pupU-mind  in  one 
way,  but  that  by  being  recombined  may  produce 
knowledge  that  was  latent,  if  you  like,  but  that  cer'jainly 


154  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

would  never  have  come  to  light  at  that  stage,  but  tot 
the  intermediation  of  the  teacher.  It  is  information 
to  tell  me  the  Japanese  word  for  a  tree.  If  I  do  not 
happen  to  know  the  word,  no  amount  of  skilful 
questioning  will  ever  didt  it  from  me.  On  the  other 
hand  the  generalised  formulse  of  Euler's  Theorem* 
may  be  said  to  be  implicit  in  the  pupil's  mind  before 
he  approaches  the  problem.  All  the  teacher  has  to  do 
is  to  arrange  that  certain  ideas  shall  be  grouped  in  a 
particular  way,  and  the  formuls  issue  of  themselves. 
The  meuiing  of  instruere,ikiA  our  dealings  with  Caesar 
have  familiazked  us  with,  comes  in  very  a^Msitdy 
here.  The  general  draws  up  the  line  of  battle,  now 
making  one  formation,  now  another.  In  every  case 
the  men,  like  the  ideas,  are  given.  Information  is  as 
diffof^it  from  Jnsbruotron  as  recrmting  u  from  drilling. 

The  second  error  in  the  application  of  the  Formal 
Steps  is  just  the  opposite  of  what  we  have  been  consider- 
ing. Instead  of  being  tempted  to  overestimate  one  of 
the  Steps  and  neglect  the  others,  the  teacher  may  be 
impdled  to  imdst  too  rigidly  on  the  individual  riji^ts 
oi  each  step ;  in  oth^  wonb,  to  insist  pedantically  on  the 
Steps,  the  whole  of  the  Steps,  and  nothing  but  the  Steps. 
For  long,  students  in  the  training  colleges  of  Great  Brit- 
ain arranged  their  Notes  of  Lessons  in  three  columns, 
at  the  top  of  which  stood  the  words  Heads,  Matter, 
Mdkod,  respectivdy.  Hie  F<Mrmal  Steps  came  dong 
and  introduced  a  welcome  elasticity  into  the  form  of 
note-making.  Unfortunately  the  new  system  is  rapidly 
settling  down  into  the  old  rigidity.  The  student  first 
of  all  makes  the  mistake  that  every  lesson  must  exem- 
plify the  iHiole  <j{  Uie  Steps,  forgetting  that  tiM  teadiing 

>8Mp.84. 


OOHDITIOIfS  OF  PRESENTATION 


155 


unit  does  not  necessarily  coincide  with  the  lesson  unit 
It  m&y  take  several  lessons  to  complete  the  cycle  of 
!.  ^"^^  important  section  of  a 

subject.  Beadei,  aU  the  Steps  are  not  always  of  the 
same  unportance.   Particularly  the  two  steps,  Aasoda. 
tion  and  GeneraUsation,  have  very  differ^it  vahiei 
according  to  circumstances.   It  is  no  uncommon  ex- 
L"  T*?  *^       a  student  coming  to  her  Mistress  of 
Method  with  the  dktrewing  news  that  she  "simply 
cant  get  a  generalisation  for  this  lesBcm."  Aaamatti 
of  fact,  the  one  important  thing  is  that  a  subject  should 
be  so  presented  that  when  the  lesson  is  over  the  new 
matter  diaU  have  been  worked  into  the  very  warp 
and  woc^  of  the  mental  content  of  the  pupils.   In  the 
process  the  Fofmal  Steps  give  very  uerful  guidance,  but ' 
that  gmdance  must  be  of  a  general  kind.  AppBcatiiMi 
for  example,  need  not  be  kept  entirely  to  the  end  of  th^ 
process.   Frequently  it  comes  in  very  appositely  along 
with  AiBociation.   Sometimes  generalisation  may  force 
Itself  m  before  BmotMm  has  had  time  to  complete 
Its  work,  and  sometimes  there  may  be  no  need  of  gener- 
ahsation  at  all.   The  Steps  meet  the  case  of  the  Mimal 
mmd  under  normal  conditions,  but  they  have  been 
formed  on  experience  of  how  the  mind  acts,  and  are  not 
soiM^  above  the  mind,  and  therefore  something 
hat  the  mmd  must  ob^.   Most  people  who  have  had 
to  do  with  the  training  of  teachers  have  had  enMfienee 
of  the  complamt  expressed  to  a  class  that  is  answerins 
ahead  of  what  the  teacher's  notes  arranged  for:  "Bui 
you  don  t  know  that  yet."   This  means  that  the 
pupils  have  antieipated  what,  according  to  the  teacher's 
calculations,  is  not  due  for  seveiBl  quefrtioDs  yet  hi 
such  caiee  it  may  stm  be  dewibte,  far  the  ■rfiof  the 


156  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

duller  members  of  the  class,  that  the  teacher  should 
insist  on  going  through  what  he  had  intended.  But 
he  BHut  reaUae  that  there  is  no  absolutely  fisrad  rste 
at  whicii  |Hi|»k  iMum. 

All  the  same,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference  in  what 
order  facts  arv'  presented  to  the  pupils.  Old  facts  that 
have  to  be  reealled,  and  new  facts  that  have  to  be  pre- 
■ntiiii,  csn— t  be  put  forward  haphaiard.  It  may 
be  mpttwiMe  te  lay  down  any  &ted  Uw  aceordii^(  to 
whidi  presentation  must  always  be  made,  for  some- 
times one  fact  and  sometimes  another  may  be  the  best 
to  bring  forward  first.  Everything  depends  upon  the 
mental  content  of  the  pupil,  and  the  purpose  the  teacher 
has  in  view  at  the  time.  It  is  etmcmvakiib  ^t  the 
same  matter  might  have  to  be  prese&ted  by  the  teacher 
in  quite  a  different  order  to  the  same  class,  according 
as  the  lesson  is  to  be  given  at  the  beginning,  the  middle, 
or  the  end  of  a  given  session.  Indeed,  so  important  is 
this  question  ci  order,  that  as  soon  as  we  have  dodt 
with  some  other  of  the  conditions  of  preseitatkm,  we 
shall  devote  a  couple  of  chapters  to  it. 

One  of  the  most  popular  problems  in  examination 
papers  for  teachers  is  to  work  out  the  relation  between 
the  inductive  and  the  deductive  methods  of  teaching. 
The  orthodox  answer  seems  to  be  that  we  diould  begin 
with  the  inductive,  and  end  with  the  deductive.  But 
obviously  the  two  methods  cannot  be  dissociated  in  a 
wholesale  way.  No  doubt  in  dealing  with  a  particular 
part  of  a  subject  one  method  or  the  other  has  the  prefer- 
eaee,  but  whm  we  view  tiie  fi^  of  s^od  woric  as  a 
whole,  we  find  that  there  is  a  plaee  for  both,  all  throned 
the  pupil's  course.  Speaking  generally,  new  matter  is 
acquired  by  inductive  methods  and  applied  by  deduc- 


CX>NDITIONS  OF  PRESENTATION 


157 


tive.   But  in  the  application  by  means  of  dedu'  dve 
methods  we  put  ourselves  in  the  way  of  learning  at 
least  acme  new  matter  as  well  as  establishing  what  we 
have  ah^y  mastered.   It  is  r^t  fhat  we  are  inductiye 
at  the  beginnings  of  our  subj*  " '  and  deductive  later 
on.  The  two  processes  interla  je    en  at  the  b^pnning. 
Some  law  must  be  laid  down,  some  datum  given  even  at 
the  start.   Thus  in  making  a  beginnmg  of  the  teaching 
of  Latin,  we  may  dther  give  a  few  rules  of  construction 
and  a  few  Latm  words  with  their  meanings,  and  set  our 
pupils  to  read  a  bit  of  Latm;  or  we  may  give  our 
pupils  a  bit  of  Latm  and  tell  them  its  general  meaning, 
then  set  them  to  find  out  the  meaning  of  the  individ- 
ual words  and  to  leam  the  meaning  of  case,  number, 
person,  and  what  not,  from  their  experience  of  the  way 
in  which  words  behave  in  Latin  passages.   The  first 
method  would  be  generally  described  as  deductive,  the 
second  as  inductive.*    Obviously  there  are  inductive 
and  deductive  elements  in  both.    The  alternation 
between  the  two  methods  charaeterises  the  whole 
course  by  which  the  boy  acquires  a  mastery  over  lot 
subject. 

This  alternation  of  the  diflferent  methods  is  paralleled 
by  a  different  form  of  rhythm  that  is  characteristic  of 
Exposition.  This  is  the  alternation  between  the  con- 
centration beat  and  the  diffiinon  beat.  Tiewed  from 
the  standpoint  of  psychology,  this  is  usually  regarded 
as  the  rhythm  of  attention.  But  it  is  not  a  matter 
merely  of  greater  and  less  attention,  but  rather  a  change 
in  the  area  of  the  field  within  which  attention  is  dis- 
trawted.  There  is  a  toidency  among  teachers  to 

'  For  the  iBdtietive  Method  in  Utfai  taMhIiig,  m  Bennett  and 


158  EZPOBmON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


ocmfouiid  intennty  of  attention  with  the  narrowuew 

of  the  range  within  which  it  is  exercised.  A  pupil 
may  attend  as  intently  to  a  wide  field  that  he  has 
under  observation  as  he  does  in  concentrating  his  atten- 
tion on  the  tip  of  a  blade  of  grass  in  that  field.  In 
practice  it  is  found  that  there  is  need  for  continual 
change  of  what  may  be  called  the  focus  attention,  and 
of  this  changing  focus  the  expositor  must  take  careful 
heed.  Microscopic  work  affords  us  a  useful  parallel. 
The  observer  usually  begins  by  using  the  low  power, 
say  70,  to  get  a  general  idea  of  the  specimen  under 
examination.  By  and  by  he  wants  to  ^t  a  more 
detailed  view  of  some  part.  Accordingly  he  uses  a 
higher  power  and  turns  on  perhaps  the  350  objective. 
Some  part  of  the  new  field  he  desires  to  examine  in 
still  further  detail,  and  in  consequence  he  uses  the  700 
objective.  But  while  working  with  these  high  powers, 
he  begins  to  get  a  distcvted  riesw  of  the  object  as  a 
whole,  and  to  correct  this  he  returns  to  the  lowest  power 
of  all.  It  is  because  of  this  need  for  continual  change 
from  one  power  to  another  that  the  double  nozzle  and 
the  multiple  nozzle  are  supplied  to  microscopes,  ao 
that  with  the  minimum  outlay  of  time  the  field  of 
vision  may  be  changed  acecKrding  to  the  degree  of  detail 
the  observer  desires. 

Ir.  ji^xposition  we  are  continually  changing  our  focus, 
and  there  is  a  certain  danger  that  the  expositor's  focus 
may  change  without  a  corresponding  change  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil.  The  Expositor  may  be  working  with 
the  700  objective  while  the  pupil  is  working  with  the 
70.  The  tendency  in  Exposition  as  in  microscopic  work 
is  to  use  the  higher  powers  too  freely,  or  rather  too 
frequently,  without  reference  to  the  low  powers.  It 


00NDIT1ON8  OF  PRBBBirTATION 


159 


w  natural  to  suppose  that  the  higher  the  power,  the 
more  the  pupU  wiU  learn.   There  is  the  misleading 
permanent  suggestion" »  of  the  word  thorough.  To 
know  a  thing  thoroughly  is  generally  understood  to 
mean  to  know  it  in  great  detaU.   But  it  is  not  unusual 
to  find  a  person  who  knows  a  subject  in  great  detail 
and  yet  has  no  command  over  that  subject,  because 
he  has  not  eorrekted  the  details  to  the  broad  general 
principles.  In  Exposition  the  teacher  must  concentrate 
now  on  this  point,  now  on  that;  but  he  must  never  fail 
to  correlate  the  minute  pomts  of  the  concentration  beat 
with  the  broad  outlines  of  the  diffusion  beat.   He  must 
Icam  from  the  pamter  who  goes  close  up  to  his  canvas 
to  peer  into  it  and  put  in  a  deUcate  stroke  or  two  only 
to  step  back  a  few  paces  so  as  to  get  tiie  general  effect. 
The  pamter  is  attending  as  keenly  at  the  long  range 
he  is  at  the  short  one,  and  doing  quite  as  valuable 
work. 

It  is  obviously  of  the  first  importance  that  expositor 
and  pupil  should  be  at  each  moment  working  with  the 
same  power.   This  is  sometimes  secured  by  the  ex- 
positor  making  use  of  certain  conventional  expressions, 
such  as  "speakmg  very  generally,"  "taking  a  wider 
view  we  find,"  "coming  now  to  details  we  see."  Apart 
from  specific  verbal  cautions,  the  best  way  to  maintain 
identity  of  power  is  to  use  the  material  in  such  a  way 
as  to  lead  to  difficulties  if  it  is  presented  along  with 
material  that  belongs  to  a  different  grade.    This  -nay 
be  best  iUustrated  by  the  case  of  history,  where  w.  aave 
the  possibility  of  a  geographical  background.  Besides, 
we  ai  e  able,  by  the  kind  of  chanMsten  we  introduce,  to 
mdicate  the  general  scope  <rf  our  aqwsitioii.  We  may 

*8Mp.m. 


1 


ill 


160  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINO 

haye  half  adosen  historical  manuals  all  of  the  same  size, 
yet  dealing  with  widely  different  fields  of  history.  We 
may  have  one  dealing  with  Ancient  History,  another 
with  The  History  of  the  United  States;  a  third  may 
be  An  Epitome  of  the  History  of  the  World,  while  a 
fourth  is  The  History  of  Partney  Parish.  We  have 
here  four  quite  different  powers,  and  while  a  certain 
number  of  events  are  common  to  two  or  more  of  the 
volumes,  the  importance  of  those  event"  is  entirely 
dififerent  in  the  various  volumes.  The  Renaissance 
might  be  treated  in  four  different  powers  at  different 
times,  with  the  same  advanced  class.  Under  the  70 
objective  we  might  treat  of  the  great  movemoit  that 
north  of  the  Alps  culminated  in  the  Reformation  and 
on  the  south  of  the  Alps  in  Humanism.  The  200 
objective  would  give  scope  for  a  lesson  on  the  state- 
ment that  "Modem  History  begins  with  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII."  Under  the  500  objective  there  would 
be  enough  detail  to  work  out  The  Effect  of  the  Renais- 
sance on  the  Public  Schools  of  England.  "The 
Renaissance  is  epitomised  in  Erasmus"  would  be  a 
theme  that  could  be  satisfactorily  treated  only  under 
the  1000-power  object-glass. 

This  sliding  scale  of  focus  emphasises  the  relativity 
of  everything  that  can  be  said  on  the  subject  of  Expo- 
sition. There  is  a  natural  desire  for  a  standard  of 
some  sort  to  which  different  cases  may  be  referred. 
The  ordinary  thermometer  with  its  two  fixed  pomts 
of  departure  ~  the  freesing  and  boiling  points  of  water 
—  rouses  our  envy  and  challenges  competition.  In 
attempting  to  set  up  two  points  as  a  basis  of  comparison 
in  Exposition  it  must  be  remembered  that  we  are  work- 
ing on  the  subjective  side,  and  that  therefore  the  points 


CONDITIONS  OF  PRESINTATION  161 

will  vary  with  each  individual  tr  -  .!,ed.  It  is  com- 
paratively easy  to  standardise  the  expoaitandum,  the 
nwtter  of  Expontion,  but  so  loon  as  we  enter  upon  the 
sttbjeetive  consideration  of  that  matter  we  must  be 
prepared  for  difficulties;  we  must  face  the  problem  of 
the  individual  mind. 

It  is  possible  to  obtain  two  points  that  are  fixed  for 
any  given  individual  at  a  given  time.  They  change  in 
the  course  of  the  pupil's  development,  and  thsy  do 
not  coincide  exactly  in  the  case  of  different  pupils  at 
approximately  the  same  stage  of  development.  But 
they  are  fairly  definite  within  the  experience  of  the  in- 
dividual, and  the  coincidence  with  corresponding  points 
in  pu|^  of  the  same  standing  is  su£Bcittitly  close  to 
give  the  points  a  certam  practical  value. 

The  first  may  be  called  the  Inference  Point.  It 
marks  the  stage  in  any  given  subject  at  which  the  pupil 
has  to  go  through  a  process  of  inference,  however  slight. 
Up  to  this  point  overythmg  in  that  subject  that  is 
presented  to  the  pupil  is  accepted  at  its  face  vahie. 
Tf  on  glancing  at  the  sky  a  man  remarks,  "I  see  it  is 
going  to  be  a  fine  day  to-morrow, "  he  is  dealing  with  a 
matter  that  is  below  his  Inference  Point.  No  doubt 
he  is  really  making  an  inference  and  not  merely  record- 
ing an  observation.  He  does  not  see  that  it  is  going  to 
be  a  fine  day,  but  from  what  he  sees  he  mfers  that  tiie 
day  is  gomg  to  be  fine.  So  closely  related,  however, 
are  the  facts  observed  and  f  he  deduction  drawn  from 
them,  that  the  whole  process  is  practically  one.  When 
a  numbtt  of  facts  and  deductions  from  facts  are  so 
welded  together  as  to  become  indepmdent  organised 
groups,  the  mind  requires  merely  to  observe  them 
in  order  to  accept  them  as  wholes  without  oriUcism. 


162  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TRATK)N  IN  nAQUIKQ 

Wherever  this  happens,  the  miiid  in  questioii  k  work^ 
below  its  Inference  Point.  But  when  the  Inference 

Point  has  been  reached,  it  is  necessary  to  do  conscious 
work.  Ideas  have  to  be  compared  and  correlated, 
and  deliberate  deductions  drawn  from  previous  expe- 
rience. A  medical  studoit  at  a  clinieiU  examination  is 
working  well  above  his  Inference  Point.  Tlie  ease 
nugr  be  an  easy  one,  but  the  student  is  quite  aware  of 
the  processes  by  which  he  reaches  his  conclusions. 
A  mere  glance  at  the  patient  tells  the  examiner  all  that 
it  is  necessary  to  know.  The  few  perceptual  impres- 
mons  that  act  on  tiie  examiner's  mind  call  up  at  once 
certain  groups  of  ideas  with  which  they  have  ht!t(aae 
in  his  mind  so  closely  associated  as  to  form  one  whole 
which  represents  the  disease  from  which  the  patient  is 
suffering.  Obviously  the  Inference  Point  in  a  given 
subject  wlach  the  student  k  studying  is  continually 
rising.  What  he  has  to  leason  out  painMly  at  the 
earlier  stages  becomes  &  part  of  his  being,  a  soon  as  a 
fact  becomes  faculty,  it  fdls  below  the  Inference  Point. 
With  growing  experience  fact  after  fact  takes  its  place 
in  complexes  that  remahi  bek)w  this  point.  The  num- 
ber of  groups  of  ideas  that  may  be  accepted  at  theur  faee 
value  is  always  increasing. 

Botanists  tell  us  that  at  the  tip  of  each  twig  there  is 
what  they  call  "  the  growing  point."  The  plant  as  a 
whde  increases  by  the  multiplication  of  cells  according 
to  their  special  fashions,  by  budding,  fission,  gemmation, 
or  what  not.  But  in  whatever  way  they  multiply  they 
always  produce  cells  of  exactly  the  same  kind.  Sap 
cells  produce  sap  cells  and  no  other  kind,  bast  cells 
other  bast  cells,  wood  cells  other  wood  cells,  and  so  on 
afi  found  —  exc^t  at  the  growing  point.  There  the 


(xmDinomi  or  PRnnrrATioif  m 

edb  an  undifferentiated  ami  multiply  so  as  to  produce 
oeOt  that  we  fitted  to  beeow  At  need  sap  cells,  or  cam- 
bium cells,  or  bast  cells,  or  whatever  other  kind  the  plant 

stands  specially  in  need  of  at  the  time.  The  nuige 
above  the  Inference  Point  corresponds  to  the  growing 
point  of  the  plant,  is  indeed  the  growing  point  of  the 
mind.  It  is  in  this  region  that  the  nurture  of  the  mind 
takes  place. 

It  would  seem  as  if  there  oould  be  no  limit  to  the 
region  within  which  inference,  conscious  inference,  ia 
^^jfed.   But  there  is  an  upper  limit  to  the  region 
ollnfennce  when  the  matter  is  considered  from  the 
poia*  of  view  ol  taaehfaig  and  learning.   The  Infer- 
ence Point  marks  the  limit  of  paid-up  mental  ei^iital. 
All  the  matter  that  lies  below  it  may  be  called  upon  at 
a  moment's  notice,  with  the  full  assurance  that  it  will 
come  at  once  and  behave  as  it  is  expected  to  behave. 
It  is  oiiuiised  afanoat  to  the  automatic  level.  Above 
it::  inference  Point  the  matter  on  whieh  the  nund  acts 
V  -        mised,  though  the  organisation  is  less  eom- 
p'-        n  xjertam  directio^vri  tKj  organisation  is  more 
anu  more  to  seek,  and  r  1 1  v  e  rnally  comes  at  which 
the  subjeet  cannot  be  saia  d  Y  '.  organised  at  all.  When 
this  stage  has  been  readied  in  agiven  subject,  we  may 
be  said  to  have  attained  the  Gaping  Point   It  indi- 
cates  th;  imit  of  organisation  of  the  mental  content. 
Up  to  ilu:>  point  everything  is  dealt  with  under  definite 
categ(»rie8.   The  mind  is  prepared  to  manipulate  the 
matter  k  certain  definite  ways:  it  puts  certain  standard 
questions  and  knows  how  to  deal  with  Ae  answers. 
If,  however,  som-  matter  is  presented  that  the  mind 
does  not  know  at  all  how  to  deal  with,  the  Gaping  Point 
has  been  reached.  All  that  the  mind  can  do  is  to  turn 


164  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

over  Uus  new  matter  in  various  ways,  look  at  it  tnm 
this  point  and  from  that;  in  fact,  gape  at  it. 

A  mineralogist  has  a  new  substance  presented  to  him 
for  examination.  It  is  not  sufficiently  characteristic 
to  be  at  once  classified  by  inspection.  Accordingly 
it  rises  above  the  Inference  Point.  He  proceeds  to 
apply  this  test  and  that  according  to  his  systm. 
He  observes  its  colour,  its  crystalline  form,  and  its  gen- 
eral texture.  He  strikes  it  with  his  hammer  to  hear 
how  it  rings.  He  breaks  off  a  piece  to  discover  its 
fracture.  He  pounds  a  small  portion  to  get  the  colour 
of  the  powder.  He  tests  its  hardness  c(nnpared  with 
his  standard  minerals.  Then  he  goes  to  his  laboratory 
and  discovers  its  specific  gravity,  its  chemical  compo- 
sition, its  reaction  to  heat,  electricity,  and  other  things. 
All  this  while  he  has  kept  on  asking  certain  definite 
questions.  He  knows  exactly  the  sort  of  information 
he  wants.  His  examination  has  been  guided  by  pre- 
vious experience;  and  therefore  admits  of  experiment. 
If  now,  in  consequence  of  his  investigations,  he  finds 
that  not  only  does  the  result  not  fit  into  any  system  of 
dassificatbn  with  iHL*eh  he  is  acquainted,  but  that 
several  of  his  individual  results  contradict  each  other, 
he  has  come  very  near  the  Gaping  Point.  It  remains 
for  him  to  consult  his  books  and  his  friends.  If  as  the 
result  he  finds  that  the  mineral  remains  a  mystery,  he 
has  actually  reached  the  Gaping  Point;  for  not  only 
does  he  not  undostand  the  minoral,  but  he  does  not 
know  how  to  go  about  discovering  its  meaning. 

Everyone  who  has  had  experience  in  working  riders 
in  geometry  has  had  experience  of  the  Gaping  Point. 
At  first  we  treat  the  problem  in  certain  definite  ways 
dictated  by  previous  eaperiettoe.  This  proposition 


OONDinQini  OF*  PSmiTATION  166 

and  that  wiU  be  applied.  But  if  after  a  time  every- 
Uiing  we  know  haa  been  appUed  in  vain,  aU  that  can 
be  done  is  to  gape  at  the  problem,  and  wonder  whether 
anything  will  turn  up  to  suggest  new  linee  of  inveati- 
gation.  We  look  at  our  drawing  upside  down,  side- 
ways, obUquely,  any  way  that  may  enable  us  to  surpiLje 
the  hidden  meaning;  just  as  we  do  in  that  typical  case 
when  we  are  reduced  to  the  Gaping  Point  by  the  very 
bad  handwriting  of  a  friend. 

Like  the  Inference  Point  the  Gaping  Pomt  is  not 
stationary.  After  many  Ulegible  letters  from  our 
fnend  we  begin  to  know  that  certain  tiny  scratches 
mean  the;  that  a  particular  wriggle  always  means  ing, 
another  wrig^  aHon,  and  a  tbird  /v;  that  what  looks 
like  e  is  always  o;  and  that  <?f  is  always  omitted.  Out 
of  this  we  form  a  system  by  means  of  which  we  can  pro- 
ceed scientifically  to  deal  with  the  body  of  the  letter 
though  probably  at  the  end  there  will  be  a  smaU  por- 
tion still  left  at  the  d^ang  Pbint. 

But  if  it  is  unportant  to  remember  that  our  Infennee 
and  Gaping  Points  are  continually  changing,  it  is  much 
more  unportant  to  realise  that  our  pupils'  Points  a-e 
quite  different  from  ours.   What  is  below  the  teacher's 
Inferaiee  Point  is  often  st  the  pupils'  Gaping  Point. 
No  better  way  of  testing  a  teadier's  sidO  in  mani^iulat^ 
ing  the  two  Points  could  be  found  than  an  examinatkm 
of  the  use  he  makes  of  the  word  therefore.   With  mat- 
ter below  the  Inference  Point  of  his  pupils  the  teacher 
is  entitled  to  bring  his  theri^oret  closely  together,  but  in 
subjects  withm  Uwpui^'  Inl^oe  sone  the  teacher 
should  see  that  a  good  deal  of  matter  is  placed  between 
each  therefore.    We  have  all  met  the  brilliant  mathe- 
matician who  puts  down  one  line  of  algebnuc  symbols 


166  EXPOBmON  AND  ILLU8TEATI0N  IN  TBACBOfO 

(m  the  bo«d,  imme^tdy  foioiped  by  another,  the 
only  fnrulge  from  the  one  to  the  other  thL  ag- 
gravating word.  Sometimes  it  takes  pages  of  close 
"figuring  out"  before  a  pupil  contrives  to  bridge  the 
gulf  that  his  teacher  has  diemiased  with  a  therefore. 


CHAFTER  m 


BxoiNNiNGs  IN  Exposition 

Accepting  the  view  tbat  Ezpoiilioa  eonriits  em. 

tially  m  producing  among  the  elements  of  the  mental 
content  of  the  pupil  a  combination  that  coincides  with 
tte  eombination  existing  in  the  mind  of  the  teacher. 

Li  ^         ^  »  double  process  o 

analysw  before  a  beginning  can  be  «««de.  First  the 
teacher  must  review  his  own  mental  content  ao  aa  to 

discover  which  elements  are  of  importance  for  thepwa- 
en  purpc«e^   Naturally  all  the  necessary  ideas 

5!  t''''''''  elements 

wJI  readily  cob»  into  conadouaness  and  the  preaenta- 
tive  activity  of  aB  the  oOier  itlevant  kieaa  wffl  b^ 

qmckened  by  the  presence  in  consciousness  of  tiloae 
thathave  actually  risen  above  the  threshold.  The 

^ar!^'  "^^^  ^ter  is  there- 

o^f  CS?^  ^ 
Next  we  have  an  analysis,  as  far  as  this  is  poaaflUe. 
ofthepupU's  mental  content  in  relation  to  th^mX 
•boat  to  be  pwaented  to  him.  This  process  obvious^ 
corresponds  to  the  beginning  of  the  fteparatirS"^ 
dealt  with  in  our  last  diapter.  W&kmwTmnm^ 
the  mind  of  the  pupil  we  must  discover  which  mTcI 
ita  content  are  lelevant  to  the  aubject  in 

107 


168  sxFoerriON  and  illustration  in  teachinq 

regular  teaohMr  of  ft  elMB  has  obviously  a  great  advan- 
tage in  this  partioulwr.  From  his  previous  dealings  with 
pupils  he  has  a  very  effective  knowledge  of  the  ideas 
which  he  can  rely  upon  finding  ai  vheir  disposal.  With 
a  new  subject,  or  an  entirely  new  fanuidi  dluitM  wib- 
ject,  tlMM  ii  a  eertate  cbugv  of  loggliMM  about  the 
niiaflalihi  nental  content.  But  even  under  such  cir- 
cumstances the  class  teacher  need  seldom  wander  far 
afield  in  order  to  find  connecting  ideas.  A  teacher  with 
an  entirdy  new  class  has,  of  course,  to  feel  his  way  by 
questions  and  caninl  ubwi'vation  ci  the  effects  of  what- 
ever presentations  he  ventures  to  make. 

TOh  a  fairly  distinct  knowledge  of  the  ideas  to  be 
conveyed  to  the  minds  of  the  pupils  and  the  com- 
plexes to  be  formed  in  those  minds,  and  a  less  clear  but 
still  adequate  knowledge  of  the  ideas  and  complexes 
at  present  octeting  in  the  miads  of  the  pupils,  the  teacher 
m  prapared  to  enter  upon  the  next  stage,  which  consists 
in  comparing  the  pupil  mental  content  with  the  teacher 
mental  content,  and  selecting  a  starting-point  for  the 
exposition.  It  will  be  found  that  the  two  mental  con- 
tents overlap  each  otJiv  to  some  extoit.  There  may 
be  a  larger  or  a  smaller  common  segn^t,  but  in  every 
ease  where  Exposition  is  possible  there  must  be  some 
elements  common  to  the  two  contents.  If  no  common 
element  can  be  found,  Exposition  is  out  of  the  question. 
Very  frequently  with  a  new  or  difficult  subject  the 
teacher  has  to  cast  about  for  a  little  before  he  finds  the 
overlap  that  is  necessary  to  secure  a  stuling-point. 
Sometimes,  on  the  other  band,  the  two  mental  contents 
coincide.  In  other  words  the  pupils  have  all  the  ele- 
ments necessary  for  the  full  undorstanding  of  tiM 
matttf  in  huid,  though  these  elanmts  miQr  be  at  pres> 


BiQiiafiifat  m  bxposition  159 

^80  arranged  as  to  give  a  difFerent  result  from  that 
<teBired  by  the  teacher.   The  complexes  in  the  pupil- 
mmd  may  be     wnmg  m  tarted  by  an  objective  stand- 
ard;  as  for  eiampte,  in  the  &«t  two  stipes  of  Herbert 
Spencer  s  progress  towMds  a  true  theory  of  the  eofeor 
of  shadows.'   In  such  cases  the  teacher's  busmess  is 
up  the  false  complex  by  Confrontation  and 
J^rt  by  abetter.   But  it  sometimes  happens  that 
the  puprf's  complex  i.  true  so  to  «  it  goes,  or  true  in 
certam  connections,  and  yet  thei.  «e  o««r  com- 
Plexes  to  be  made  that  are  equaUy  true,  or  that  an 
truem  a  wider  sense.    In  cases  of  this  kind  it  is  not 

tmporan ly  aiiriyeed  ia  order  to  separate  out  the  ele- 
ments so  that  they  may  be  b,»it  up  into  the  new  com- 
plex  that  for  some  reason  or  other  the  teacher  recaide 

mto^uce  dispeace  mto  the  original  combination  of 
1^,  it  may  qmte  weU  coexist  along  with  the  new 
one,  as  a  permanent  part  of  the  pupil^xatent,  though 
the  elements  of  which  it  is  composed  may  now  be  cT 
able  of  forming  a  totally  different  whole  when  requi^ 

ul^^l  '  '''"'P'^^  "primary  colours"  is  made 
up  erf  the  demwits  red,  blue,  and  yellow.  But  while 
th«  IS  found  to  be  a  true  collocation  so  far  as  pigm^  ts 
and  then.  majupuUtion  are  concwn^i,  it  is  u^!^ae! 
tory  when  colours  are  treated  from  the  standpoint  of 
psychology.   What  are  primary  colours  from  Vhe  one 

^fnn^i  T^'^v"?*  P"^*^  ^'^'^  ^he  other.  But 
^  ^^  J^  fc-  h«i  the  psychological  primary  colours 
wd,  viotet,  and  gwen'-femly  grouped  together 

'  See  p.  76. 

» Cf .  4  /Vw    Art,  by  tu  Bon.  Jol»  Orttor,  p. 


170  BXPOBmON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


as  the  result  of  later  exposition,  need  not  dispense  with 
his  old  pigment  combination  of  red,  blue,  and  yellow. 
Both  complexes  are  useful,  each  in  its  place.  As  » 
matter  of  fact,  for  the  ordinary  needs  of  life,  we  have  to 
adopt  still  a  third  complex,  for  we  have  even  psycho- 
logical authority  for  the  statement  that:  "The  pri- 
mary colours  for  the  mind  are  the  four  principal  colours 
—red,  yellow,  green,  and  blue."  *  When  we  begin  to 
study  chemistry  and  form  new  combinations  of  ideas, 
these  need  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  our  old  com- 
binations as  represented  by  such  familiar  phrases  as 
"acid  drops,"  or  "table  salt."  The  chemist  may  call 
these  "trivial  or  irreguUir  names,"*  but  they  represent 
wholes  that  are  as  real  as  those  reju^sented  by  his 
systematic  terms.  The  rainbow  complexes  found  in 
Genesis  and  in  lyrical  poetry  need  not  be  broken  up 
because  we  have  formed  new  combinations  under  the 
heading  "the  refraction  of  light." 

It  is  seldom  that  the  teacher  needs  to  use  up  every 
individual  element  in  a  gLv&i  complex  in  order  to  build 
up  another  complex.  The  much  more  common  case 
is  that  there  has  to  be  a  general  analysis  of  the  pupil- 
content  in  order  to  get  the  elements  necessary  to  build 
up  a  desired  complex.  In  the  process,  it  frequently 
occurs  that  certain  elements  necessary  for  our  new  com- 
plex are  found  to  be  lacking,  and  must  be  supplied  by 
the  teacher  before  any  progress  can  be  looked  for. 
In  any  case  the  beginning  must  be  made  in  that  part 
that  is  common  to  the  pupil-content  and  the  teacher- 
content.  Frequently  there  are  many  possible  starting- 
points  within  Uie  common  area,  uid  Uie  sdection  must 

'  Lightner  Witmer:  Analytical  Psychology,  p.  181. 

'  Dr.  Edward  Fraakland :  Lecture  NoUe/or  Chemical  StudenU,  p.  11. 


BEGINNINGS  IN  EXPOSITIOH  171 

^L'^fi^'T''^  P^'P^'^  ^  «  View, 

and  the  line  he  intends  to  follow. 

^Wule  it  j  admitted  that  the  teacher  must,  at  the 
Mguuung  <rf  Im  exposition,  know  definitely  what  his 
purpose  w  It  does  not  necenarily  foUow  that  this  pur- 
pose need  be  communicated  to  the  pupU.   As  a  matter 
of  fact  at  present  serious  consideration  is  given  to  this 
problem  among  the  German  teachers.    There  is  much 
toatisof  mtenMt  m  the  discussions  that  centre  in  what 
tibey  call  the  Ztelangabe;  that  is,  the  giving  or  state- 
ment of  the  purpose  of  the  lesson  at  the  very  start. 
The  term  is  usuaUy  closely  associated  with  the  name 
of  Tusikon  Ziller,'  though  his  critics  spend  a  good  deal 
of  time  m  proving  that  the  idea  of  stating  clearly  at 
toe  beginning  of  a  lesson  the  purpose  of  that  lesson  is 
none  of  his  invention,'  and  is  in  fact  of  very  venerable 
a^tiqmty.   The  text  of  a  sermon,  the  title  of  a  book, 
the  heading  of  a  chapter  are  referred  to  as  familiar  ex^ 
amples  of  the  Ztelangabe  in  ordinary  life.   But  such 
cases  do  not  always  supply  a  paraUel.  Frequently 
the  text  and  the  title  are  used  to  whet  curiosity  rathe^ 
than  o  indicate  purpose.   Indeed  the  misleadingness 
of  titles  1^  a  cause  of  increasing  complaint  among 
readers    When  the  student  of  elocution  punctiliously 
begins  his  recitation  with  "Barbara  Frietchie,  a  poem: 
K^J   2.^J^!^  Whittier,"  his  introduction  can 
hardly  be  classed  as  an  example  of  tiie  Ztelangabe. 

«n„  ^i*         «»'ttle  difficulty  in  finding  examples  of  the  appli». 
tlon  of  the  pnnciple  of  the  Z^eU^ngabe,  it  is  not  so  easy  to  give  ^ 
n  which  .t  is  deliberately  applied  as  m  educatfoSTprindpTe  ^ 
far  ba^k  as  1780,  however,  we  find  E.  Ch.  Trapp  us^f,  C^s  Ursula 

Zli^Z^-  'iJL*S    ^ir^^n,,  which  l\ZLX 

tbeZDlcfiMiwniM.  TW.  pefewnce  I  teuad  to  Km!  Bfcliter. 


172  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHIKO 


But  when  in  our  peculiar  idiom  a  lecturer  tells  us  that 
he  "proposes"  to  do  certain  things  in  the  hour  at  his 
disposal,  we  have  a  genuine  Zielangabe. 

The  very  fact  that  writew  on  Edueatkm  have  thought 
it  worth  while  to  me  the  word  as  a  technical  term,  and 
to  discuss  its  exact  meanmg  and  function,  marks  it 
out  as  indicating  a  noteworthy  stage  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  theory  of  presentation.   It  indicates  among 
other  things  the  more  or  less  conscious  adoption  of  the 
heuristic  attitude  in  opposition  to  the  Soeratic,  as  most 
suitable  for  the  teacher  to  take  up.   By  the  very  fact 
of  recognising  the  necessity  for  the  pupil  to  know  the 
object  of  the  lesson,  the  teacher  proclaims  that  he  ex- 
pects his  cooperation;  in  other  words,  the  activity  of 
the  pupil  is  assumed.  He  is  not  merely  to  be  supplied 
with  facts  and  conclusions;  he  is  to  be  made  to  work 
out  conclusions  for  hunself .    The  goal  of  the  lesson  is 
set  before  him  as  something  to  be  attained;  the  means 
of  attaining  it  are  not  specifically  indicated.   A  great 
part  of  the  value  of  the  lesson  would  be  lost  if  this  wwe 
not  so.   Misapplications  of  the  heuristic  method  supply 
illustrations  of  the  abuse  of  the  Zielangahe.   "To  dis- 
cover the  chemical  composition  of  water"  is  a  legiti- 
mate Ziel  or  aim  to  set  before  a  class;  but  when 
we  find  in  a  pupil's  note  book  that  the  mattor  is  put: 
"To  find  the  chemical  composition  of  HfO,"  we  realise 
that  something  has  gone  wrong.   On  the  oth«r  hand: 
"To  prove  that  water  is  composed  of  Oxygen  ami  Hy- 
drogen" is  quite  a  legitimate  Ziel. 

It  is  clear  that  the  Zielangahe  cannot  be  limited  to  the 
lesson-unit.  It  would  be  inconsistent  to  maintain  that 
the  pupil  must  know  definitely  the  purpose  of  each 
lesson,  and  yet  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  purpose  (A 


BIQIIfinNOS  IN  IXPOOnON  178 

each  part  of  the  leewn.  Que  ZWia  not  enough  to  guide 
throughout  a  whole  lesson.  There  must  be  many  inter- 
aims,  or  as  Campe  calls  them,  ZwiichermeU}  But  if 
there  are  to  be  inter-aims,  there  must  be  inter-units. 
We  must  have  our  matter  cut  up  into  sections,  at  the 
beginning  of  eaefa  of  wfaieh  must  appear  an  mter-aim 
or  Zwiachemiel.  EMfa  of  thew  seeUona  mutt  be  com. 
plete  in  if^elf,  the  completeness  being  detennined  in 
relation  to  purpose.  They  need  not  by  any  means  be 
of  the  same  length;  the  one  condition  is  that  they  must 
beUttlewholei.'  ' 

Sometunee  the  Zidangahe  beeomes  a  men  matter  of 
pedagogic  routine,  and  exercises  no  real  influence  on  the 
lesson.  This  is  specially  true  of  lessons  that  form  part 
of  a  course.  Here  the  whole  matter  dealt  with  by  the 
teacher  is  so  closely  connected  together  that  it  is  some- 
times neither  possible  nor  desirable  to  cut  it  up  even 
into  lesson-lengths,  not  to  speak  of  smaller  sections. 
The  general  amount  of  work  to  be  done  at  each  class 
meeting  must,  of  course,  be  determined,  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  the  whole  need  be  separated  into  purpose 
units  of  unif(Hrm  magnitude.  The  purpose  of  one  les- 
son has  frequently  to  be  carried  over  into  the  next 
Accordingly,  we  find  that  sometimes  the  German  teaeher 
who  is  loyal  to  the  theoiy  of  the  ZidangiAt  finds  him- 

>  "Son  die  Jugend  aof  denudben  nleht  ennOden,  so  muss  iomi  ihn 
durch  viele  Zwischenriele  verkOrzen  und  angenehm  machen.  Aueh 
ohne  RQcksicht  auf  Erlelchterung  fOr  die  Jugrad  bat  dieses  Ziebetsen 
emen  groflsen  Nutieii."  (Camp.:  AVgmmkm  AmMmi  4m  g,mmmten 
Sfnd-  vnd  ErtukimtmMmu,  8  TbO,  1787,  8.,  180  ff.)  QaoM  br 
Kan  Riohter. 

'  Amongst  certain  "long-known  rules  of  teaehtag"  Pfootoiam  ia- 
du^^'Lass  das  Kind  kkdoe  Qaaas  aulbMn;  gisb  fhm  UeiM 


174   EXl'OPilTION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


self  forced  to  begin  with  the  ludicrously  attenuated 
Ziel:  "Our  object  in  to-day's  lesson  in  to  see  what  hap- 
pens next."  '  What  leads  to  this  absurdity  is  the 
notion  that  the  Zielangabt  is  a  sort  of  pedagogic  rite 
to  be  gone  Utfoui^  at  the  beginning  of  eeeh  leiion- 
period.  The  theory  of  the  Zidangabe  doee  not  demand 
that  the  time-unit  and  the  purpoae-unit  must  be  iden- 
tical. The  essential  point  is  that  the  pupil  should  know 
whither  he  is  going,  so  that  he  may  cooperate  with  the 
teacher,  and  do  his  fair  share  of  the  work.' 

It  is  true  thi^  there  may  be  oeeaiioiis  when  it  is 
not  only  unneoenary  but  unprofitable  fw  the  pupil 
to  be  told  the  exact  purpose  of  a  lesson.  In  many 
lessons  given  on  the  Socratic  Method,  for  example, 
the  very  essence  of  the  teaching  is  the  unexpectedness 
with  whieh  eerti^  eonelusiona  are  reachml.  It  is 
weD  that  the  pupil  should  not  know  that  the  purpoee 

«  "  J«  DAch  doer  Bemerkung  in  den '  EHiuterungen  nun  JkhrlMielM 

ron  1883,'  die  aUo  nach  Zillers  Todc  orschicnen  sind,  hat  Zillerspft- 
ter  Briber  stillBchweigend  zugelassen,  data  das  Thcma  z.  B.  fUr  eine 
QcflchiehtMtunde  auch  so  formuliert  werden  konne :  '  Wir  wollen 
Bchen,  wie  es  weiter  geht.'"  Kwrl  Riobter:  Dit  Htrbart  ZHitrtekm 
FormaUn  Stufen,  p.  131. 

»  "  Nicht  nur  der  Lehrer  muss  wissen,  was  er  In  dieser  Stunde  er- 
leicben  will,  sondern  auch  die  SobQler  soUen  es  wiasen,  dan  ein  be- 
•timmtee  SBel  gesteeirt  iat,  Ober  da«  sie  am  Sebloaae  der  Stoade 
massen  Rechenschaft  geben  kOnnen.  Daduroh  wird  der  Oedanken- 
gang  konzentriert,  ea  wird  das  GefUhl  der  Erwartung  und  Spannung, 
die  Lust  und  Freude  zur  LOsung  der  gestellten  Aufgabe  erregt.  Febit 
jenes  Ziel,  so  wird  der  SchQler  wie  ein  Blinder  tnit  verbundenen  Augen 
vom  Lehrer  gefahrt,  und  eine  eigene  Willensanstrengung  ist  un- 
mSglich.  Die  Schttier  mOssen  am  Schiusse  der  Stunde  eine  bcstimmte 
Antwort  auf  die  Frage  geben  kttnnen:  Was  liabt  itur  Iwute  gelernt? 
Wovon  babe  ich  geeproebenT  Sehlimm  ist  ea  wenn  «ie  kdne  Ant- 
wort geben  k^'unen,  odor  vielleicht  sogen :  Wir  habcn  allerlei  gehabt." 
Ferdinand  Leuts:  Mrbuch  der  Ersiehung  und  de»  Unierrichta,  4  Au- 
flags,  Zwdtw  Teil,  p.  40. 


BMummros  nr  nromoir  175 

of  Um  knoB  it  to  BuJw  Um  aware  of  certain  gaps  in 
hli  Imowledge.  In  the  Soeratie  Metliod  the  pupil  is 
working  towards  two  ends:  one  that  be  knowa  be  it 

working  towards,  and  one  that  is  known  only  to  the 
teacher.  It  does  not  follow  that  pupil  and  teacher  are 
working  at  erose  purposes.  We  are  dealing  here  with 
the  educational  effeoti,  and  these  are  best  produced 
without  the  pupil's  conscious  cooperation.  His  obdpera 
tion  is,  of  course,  essential,  but  the  teacher  loses  his 
position  of  advantage  as  an  external  influence  if  he 
«q>lains  to  the  pupU  the  educational  effect  to  be  pro- 
doeed,  and  urges  bim  to  assist  in  being  educated. 

Even  in  matters  of  mere  knowledge  it  may  sometimes 
be  an  advantage  to  omit  a  statement  of  the  Zid.  It 
is  largely  a  matter  of  the  distribution  of  interest. 
When  the  Ziel  is  given,  the  interest  Ues  in  the  means 
oi  attaining  it;  when  it  is  withheld,  the  mterest  Ues 
in  the  proeess  itself,  particularly  in  relation  to  the 
suspense  as  to  what  it  is  gomg  to  lead  up  to.  This 
contrast  between  the  place  of  the  Zielangabe  in  the 
Heuristic  and  the  Soeratie  Method  will,  if  carefully 
faivestigated,  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  real  dif- 
ference lies  in  the  magnitude  of  the  purpose  unit. 
No  teacher  would  suggest  that  bis  pupils  should  be 
kept  entirely  in  the  dark  with  regard  to  the  purpose  of 
the  work  he  is  engaged  in.   The  question  always  is: 
How  wide  an  outlook  is  it  advisable  to  offer  them? 
Wiih  advaneed  pupils  *  we  can  give  much  wider  aims 
than  those  that  apply  to  each  lesson  as  it  comes  round. 
It  is  probable  that  teacbos  are  too  easily  content  with 

'  Campe  tells  us:  "So  wie  die  Jugend  henowaelttt.  Inim  num 
die  Hauptriete  nach  Monaten,  ViMrtolmod  haibn  Jahna  steeken." 


176  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TBATI0N  IN  TEACHING 


the  mere  Zwiachmtiele :  it  is  certain  that  the  pupils 
are.  So  long  as  the  pupil  is  allowed  to  go  on  dealing 
with  each  step  as  an  indepradent  unit,  he  is  usually 
quite  content  to  work  away  without  looking  for  any 
wider  or  deeper  meaning.  Pisgah  views  are  not  to  his 
liking,  and  he  will  certainly  not  climb  the  mountain 
unless  under  pressure,  or  at  least  under  encourage- 
ment. One  of  the  redeeming  features  of  school  ex- 
aminations is  that  they  bring  into  occasional  promi- 
nence the  main  aims  (Hauptziele),  that  give  meaning 
to  the  Zwischenaiele  with  which  the  pupil  is  too  apt  to 
be  content. 

Teachers  of  arithmetic  are  now  laying  great  stress  on 
the  need  for  clearly  imaged  ends  in  the  minds  of  the 

pupils  before  beginning  to  work  out  problems.  The 
pupil  must  not  be  left  merely  to  multiply  and  divide 
in  the  hope  that  somehow  the  answer  will  come  out. 
The  following  extract  gives  a  graphic  account  of  a  state 
of  mind  that  is  too  common  in  our  schools.  It  is 
taken  from  a  school  story  called  The  RickerUm  Medalt 
which  is  the  work  of  a  practical  teacher.  The  scene  is  a 
a  class  room  in  an  elementary  school.  Mr.  Leckie,  the 
teacher  of  the  class  (Standard  VI,  average  age  about 
13),  propounds  a  problem  in  arithmetic:  — 

"If  7  and  2  make  10,  what  will  12  and  6  make?" 

A  look  ci  dismay  passed  ovw  the  seventy-odd  faces  as  this 
apparently  meaningless  question  was  read.  Everybody  knew  that 
7  and  2  didn't  make  10,  so  that  was  nonsense.  But  even  if  it  had 
been  eenae,  what  tros  the  use  of  it?  For  everybody  knew  that  12 
and  6  make  18  —  nobody  needed  the  help  of  7  and  2  to  find  that  out. 
Nobody  knew  exactly  how  to  treat  this  strange  problem. 

Fat  John  Thomscm  frcnn  the  foot  ot  the  ckm  raised  his  hand, 
and  when  asked  what  he  wanted,  sud :  — 

"  Please,  sir,  what  rule  is  it  ?  " 


BEGINNINGS  IN  EXPOBITION  177 

Mr.  Leckie  smiled  as  he  answered :  — 

"You  must  find  out  for  yourself,  John;  what  rule  do  you  think 
it  IS,  now?" 

But  John  had  nothmg  to  say  to  such  foolishneas.  "What's  the 
the  use  of  giving  a  feUow  a  count '  and  not  telling  hun  the  rule  ?  "  — 
that's  what  John  thought.  But  as  it  was  a  heinous  sin  In  Standard 
VI  to  have  "nothing  on  your  slate,"  John  proceeded  to  put  down 
vanous  figures  and  dots,  and  then  went  on  to  divide  and  multiply 
them  time  about. 

He  first  multiplied  7  by  2  and  got  14.  Then,  dividing  by  10, 
he  got  11.  But  he  didn't  Uke  the  look  of  this.  He  hated  fractions. 
Beaides,  he  knew  from  bHter  ezpetienoe  that  whenever  he  had  frac- 
tions in  his  answer  he  was  wrong. 

So  he  multipUed  14  by  10  this  time,  and  got  140,  which  certainly 
looked  much  better,  and  caused  less  trouble. 

He  thought  that  12  ought  to  come  out  of  140;  they  both  looked 
nice,  easy,  good-natured  numbers.  But  when  he  found  that  the 
answer  was  11  and  8  over,  he  knew  that  he  had  not  yet  hit  upon  the 
right  tack ;  for  remainders  are  just  as  fatal  in  anmrera  as  fnolkmi. 
At  least,  that  was  John's  experience. 

Accordhigly,  he  rubbed  out  this  false  move  into  division,  and 
feU  back  upon  multipUcation.   When  he  had  muHlidied  140  by  12 
he  found  the  answer  1680,  which  seemed  to  hun  a  fine,  big,  aenaUe 
sort  of  answer. 

Then  he  b«gan  to  wonder  ^ther  dividon  was  gomg  to  work  thk 

time.  A8heproeeededtodividelqr6,hMeyw  fleMned  whh  tri- 
innph. 

"Six  into  48,  8  an'  nothm'  over,-^«.0  an'  no  remainder. 
I've  got  it  I " 

Here  poor  John  fell  back  in  his  seat,  folded  his  arms,  and  waited 
patienUy  till  hb  leai  fortunate  feUows  had  finished. 


James  •  knew  from  the  "  if  "  at  the  beginning  of  the  question  that 
It  must  be  proportion;  and  since  there  were  five  terms,  H  must  be 


>  Scotiee :  any  Und  of  arithmetleai  exweise  in  sebool  work 
*  The  clever  boy  of  the  daa. 


178  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINa 


compound  proportion.  That  was  all  plain  enough,  so  he  started, 
following  his  rule. 

"  If  7  gives  10,  what  will  2  give  ?  —  hu." 

Then  he  put  down 

7 :2: :10: 

"Then  if  12  gtves  10,  what  will  6  giver— again  hm."  So  ht 

put  down  this  time 

12:6 

Then  he  went  on  loyally  to  follow  his  rule :  multiplied  all  the 
second  and  third  terms  together,  and  duly  divided  by  the  product  of 
the  first  two  terms.    This  gave  the  very  unpromising  answer  If. 

He  did  not  at  all  see  how  12  and  6  could  make  If.  But  that 
wasn't  his  lookout.  Let  the  rule  see  to  that. 

The  probl^  of  beginmng  is  often  complicated  by 
the  fact  that  it  is  not  recognised  as  a  problran.  It 

seems  so  easy.  There  are  so  many  possible  beginnings 
that  it  would  appear  that  one  could  hardly  fail  to  hit 
upon  something  that  will  exactly  meet  the  case.  Some 
teachers,  in  fact,  deliberately  minimise  the  importance 
of  the  b^;inning.  Too  much  time  is  sp&it  over  con- 
siderations of  beginning,  they  maintain,  and  advise 
their  pupils  to  get  to  work  anyhow.  The  unportant 
thing,  they  say,  is  to  get  a  start.  It  does  not  matter 
how  you  begin,  so  long  as  you  get  begun.  There  is 
perhaps  a  certain  justification  for  all  this  impatience. 
An  experienced  editor,  in  engaging  a  brilliant  young 
mwi  to  assist  him  in  preparing  for  the  press  manu- 
scripts that  had  been  accepted  for  his  magazine,  gave 
this  advice:  "In  many  cases,  particularly  with  essays, 
you  will  find  it  a  good  plan  to  cut  out  the  first  paragraph. 
The  author  gets  down  to  business  in  the  second. 
You  will,  of  course,  be  prepared  to  have  all  the  authors 
complain  that  the  first  paragraph  is  the  best  m  the 
essay,  the  fact  being  that  they  have  given  so  much  <am^» 


BBOminNOS  IN  EXPOSITION 


and  care  to  the  begiiming  that  they  have  lost  all  sense 
of  Its  true  value."  What  the  editor  objected  to  here  is 
not  80  much  begmnings  as  "mtroductions."  No  one  is 
more  tired  of  formal  openings  than  the  experienced 
trainer  of  teachers.  He  of  all  men  is  fully  convinced 
that  introductions  are  excellent  things  to  omit.  But 
the  lesson  must  be  begun  all  the  same,  and  the  problem 
of  the  beginning  remains. 

It  may  not  be  a  logicaUy  justifiable  statement  that 
ttiCTe  are  many  degrees  of  beginning,  but  it  contains  a 
defimte  meanmg.  We  have  indeed  the  whole  range  from 
the  beginning  of  an  entirely  new  subject  to  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  sentence.    There  is  a  certain  rhythm  in 
teaching,  and  each  new  beat  in  this  rhythm  implies  a 
new  beginning.  Obviously,  the  longer  the  beat  the  more 
important  the  beginning.   It  is,  however,  onl>  at  the 
bigger  divisions  of  a  subject  that  any  serious  prob- 
lem arises.   At  the  subordinate  divisions  the  begm- 
ning  is  practically  determined  by  what  has  gone  before. 
In  deaKngwith  a  subject,  the  teacher  acquires  a  swing 
that  carries  him  on  over  all  the  smaller  breaks  m  con- 
tinuity.  A  lesson  m  the  middle  of  a  course  has  to  a 
certain  extent  determined  its  own  begmning  with  regard 
at  least  to  matter,  and  often  with  regard  to  form  as  well, 
inasmuch  as  the  reaction  between  teacher  and  pupil 
throuj^iout  the  course  has  led  to  the  development 
of  the  teacheiw  and  pupil-content  in  such  a  way  as  to 
establish  a  more  or  less  mevitable  interaction  betweoi 
them.   But  the  very  beginning  of  a  new  subject, 
and  especially  when  the  teacher  is  new  to  his  class, 
presents  a  very  different  problem.   It  involves  the 
breaking  hi  somewhere  or  other  mto  the  pupils'  circle 
of  thought,  and  it  is  oftoi  of  material  conaequenoe 


180  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUBTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


where  this  irruption  takes  place.  The  subject-matter 
may  be  approached  from  many  different  points,  and 
nothing  but  a  lair  knowledge  of  the  pupils'  nMital 
content  can  determine  which  it  is  best  to  select. 

That  this  difficulty  in  beginning  is  not  an  imaginary 
one  originating  in  an  excess  of  refinemv.nt  in  method  is 
proved  by  the  trouble  often  experienced  in  ordinary 
Ufe  when  we  set  about  explaining  anything  Uiat  is  in  the 
least  complicated.  We  often  toss  about  for  a  while, 
seeking  the  most  suitable  starting-point.  Sometimes, 
indeed,  we  actually  put  our  difi'  julty  into  words,  and 
ask:  "Well,  now,  where  shall  I  begin?"  And  it  is  to  be 
noticed  that  we  do  this  even  in  what  we  are  apt  to 
r^ard  as  the  simplest  case,  that  is,  in  the  telling  of  a 
story.  When  a  Frenchman  does  not  follow  a  confused 
story  as  it  is  being  told  to  him,  he  is  apt  to  say  to  the 
story-teller: "  Si  tu  voulois  commencer  par  le  commence- 
ment." The  reference  is  to  Anthony  Hamilton,*  the 
brilliant  Irish  writer  of  French  fairy  tales.  In  one 
of  Hamilton's  stories  Moulineau  the  giant  calls  upon 
the  ram  (who,  of  course,  is  one  of  the  speaking  kind) 
to  cheer  him  up  by  telling  some  pleasant  tale: — 

"  The  ram,  after  having  meditated  for  a  little,  began  in  this  way : — 

'  After  the  wounds  oi  the  white  fox,  the  Queen  had  nol  failed  to 

pay  aim  a  visit.' 

'  Ram,  my  friend,'  said  the  i^i,  faitemipting  him, '  I  understand 

nothing  of  all  that.  If  you  would  b  .gin  at  the  beginning,  you  would 
give  me  pleasure ;  for  all  those  tales  that  b^;in  in  the  middle  only 
confuse  the  imagination.' 

'Very  well,'  said  the  ram;  'I  consent,  against  the  custom,  to 
put  everything  in  its  place ;  accordingly  the  beginning  of  my  story 
[histoire]  wiU  stand  at  the  head  of  my  narrative  [rieitl.' " 


>  Died  1720. 


BEGINNINGS  IN  EXPOfllTION  181 


Here  Motilineaa  takes  it  for  granted  that  it  is  a  self- 
evident  proposition  that  we  should  always  begin  at 

what  he  calls  the  beginning.  No  doubt  there  are 
intellects  for  which  this  rectilineal  arrangement  is  the 
best  possible.  Moulineau  would  have  been  at  home 
in  China,  where,  we  are  told,  the  drama  begins  with  the 
birth  of  the  hero,  and  goes  straas^t  on.  Evoi  in  Eng- 
land there  is  room  for  the  orthogniphie  story  of  the 
Robinson  Crusoe  type: — 

"I  was  bom  in  the  year  1632,  in  the  city  of  York,  <rf  a  good 
family,  though  not  of  that  country,  my  father  bdog  a  fw^oer  of 
Bremen,  who  settled  first  at  Hull  .  ,  .,"etc. 

but  there  is  also  a  place  for  the  Iliad,  Paradise  Lost,  and 
the  modern  complicated  novel  that  begins  in  the  middle 
of  the  plot.  Yet  Moulineau  is  right  in  insisting  upon 
beginning  at  ihc  beginning:  his  mistake  lies  in  suppos- 
ing that  chronology  is  the  only  element  that  detomines 
what  a  beginning  is.  Time  is,  of  course,  of  fundamental 
importance  in  thinking,  but  it  must  not  be  allowed 
to  dominate  the  expositor  in  his  selection  of  material. 
He  must  be  guided  in  every  case  by  the  purpose  he  has 
in  view.  In  dealing  with  Moulineau  it  is  elear  that  the 
proper  order  is  chronologieal;  in  dealing  with  a  jaded 
public,  tired  of  the  ordinary  and  in  search  of  excitement, 
the  ram's  successors  are  entitled  to  neglect  the  chrono- 
logical order,  and  to  adopt  the  chronological  middle 
or  end  for  then-  purposive  beginning.  The  expositor 
wishes  to  produce  a  eertun  arrangnnait  of  ideas  in  the 
mind  of  another:  the  beguming  that  lends  itself  beet 
to  the  production  of  this  arrangement  is  the  best. 

The  teacher  in  an  English  school  begins,  for  instance, 
with  a  blackboard  full  of  figures  from  the  Board  of 


182  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

Trade  returns  for  the  past  ten  years,  from  which  th« 
pupils  are  invited  to  discover  which  are  Britain's 
best  customers  in  the  matter  of  buying  her  goods. 
Various  ups  and  downs  are  noticed,  and  causes  sug- 
gested.  One  sudden  fall  is  unaccounted  for.  Tow- 
ards the  end  of  1906  Italy  began  to  buy  a  good  deal 
less  from  Britain.   The  fall  is  not  tempers'    for  there 
has  been  no  corresponding  rise  since.       .y  is  not 
hostile  to  Britain:  rather  the  contran     The  cause 
must  be  sought  elsewhere.   More  figures  are  sub- 
mitted, from  which  it  appears  that  what  Britain  has 
lost  Germany  has  gamed.  But  why  this  sudden  change  ? 
Germany  i  no  nearer  Italy  than  it  was  before;  there 
has  been  no  quarrel  with  British  goods;  the  Germans 
may  be  better  at  pushing  goods,  but  there  was  no 
sudden  increase  in  their  superiority  at  that  time. 
Gradually  the  search  is  narrowed  down  to  something 
peculiar  that  belonged  to  that  year,  and  the  openmg 
of  the  Simplon  Tunnel  in  May,  1906,  is  suggested. 
Smce  this  begmnmg  occurs  in  a  lesson  in  commercial 
geography,  the  tunnel  is  approached  from  the  proper 
pomt.   Moulineau  would  have  insisted  upon  start- 
ing with  the  tunnel. 

A  problem  of  this  kind  is  often  an  excellent  way  of 
beginning  an  exposition.  Instead  of  starting  straight- 
way with  the  subject  of  the  difference  between  the 
development  of  the  Feudal  System  in  England  and  m 
France,  the  problem  might  be  suggested :  Why  are  there 
hedgerows  in  England  and  not  in  France  ?  In  answer- 
ing this  interesting  question  all  the  essential  points  of 
difference  emerge,  and  the  incentive  of  a  well-defined 
purpose  is  mwntained  throughout  the  lesson. 

The  problem  of  beginnmg  is  important  not  merely 


BKoummcM  nr  ixFoanoir  igs 

because  of  its  niation  to  the  interest  aroused,  but  also 
because  it  practically  ««.  the  onfer  in  ^Wch  tt 
lesson  must  afterwards  proceed.   In  .  cm 
development  of  the  butterfly,  we  may  begin  with 

Z  ZJii      r^''      «^»>' with 

the  chiysalis.  If  we  begin  with  the  egg,  we  would 
satirfy  Moulmeau,  and  foUow  the  devdipmenTT 
wards.  If  we  begin  with  the  imago,  we  fdlow  £i 
development  backwards.   In  both  ca^^  we  have  no 

^•tSi-rK*^^*;r °ow,  the  start  is  maSe 
with  eitJi«.  of  the  mtermediate  states,  there  must  be  a 

^  otl^e'-  back- 

wards. At  first  sight  it  would  appear  that  there  ^ 

only  one  way  of  beginning  this  exposition  properiy. 

The  egg  seems  the  only  natural  beginning.  BuTm^t 

hi^  ee^  a'lXJi  7'^^  comparatively  few 

nave  sew  a  butterfly's  eggs.  In  most  cases,  though  the 
egg  would  fomi  a  part  of  ttie  teaehc^s  mental  content, 
It  would  not  form  a  part  of  the  pupil's,  and  therafor^ 
wouW  no'  a  suitable  commenci^  eleiST 

un  tne  ^d,  if  the  teacher  possesses  spechnens 

fll^  '  -lut  terflies,  he  might  quite  well  start  with 
the  Idea  of  egg  m  gcn^,  which,  of  course,  forms  a  com- 
mon element  in  teach«.  and  puptkxmtent,  and  then 
tbe  specimen  eggs  as  new  matter  to  be  coneUted 
w^^h  the  old.  Out  of  the  common  elements  it  is  always 
the  teacher  s  busmess  to  select  those  which  will  lead  to 
thedeeired  result  with  the  minimum  expenditure  of  time 
and  energy.  In  certain  subjects  the  difficulty  of  choos- 
mg  the  proper  elements  is  much  graater  than  m  othen. 
In  mathematics,  for  example,  there  is  much  less  liberty 

nli^""  ^  ^'^""^y  ^'^^  geography.  The 

connection  among  the  diflferent  points  in  the  subject 


184  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


is  so  close  that  it  is  impossible  to  present  them  in  any 
but  one  order.  Yet  even  in  mathematics  there  is  great 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  order  in  which  certain 
dements  should  be  presented.  At  what  stage,  for 
example,  should  the  idea  of  an  equation  be  introduced 
in  the  teaching  of  algebra  ?  Should  decimal  or  vulgar 
fractions  come  first  in  the  teaching  of  arithmetic? 
Again,  the  whole  of  the  propaganda  for  what  is  called 
the  new  geouMtry  is  an  exemplification  of  the  unpop* 
tanee  placed  on  the  bctfnnings  as  detennining  the 
alter  processes. 

As  there  are  many  beginnings  throughout  the  course 
of  a  lesson,  so  there  are  many  endings.  Every 
beginning  implies  an  ending  of  the  same  degree  of  im- 
portance as  itself .  Naturally  the  ending  of  a  lesson  or  « 
section  has  to  be  as  carefully  considered  as  the  begin* 
ning.  In  point  of  fact,  they  must  be  considered  together. 
Indeed  it  may  be  said  that  the  end  determines  the  begin- 
ning. The  principle  of  the  Zielangabe  demands  that 
the  pupil  shall  know  the  aid,  at  least  in  the  sense  of  the 
aim  or  purpose.  But  the  teacher  must  know  the  «id 
also  in  the  sense  of  the  termination.  He  must  know 
what  his  process  is  going  to  accomplish,  and  he  must 
also  know  how  his  process  is  to  terminate.  He  must 
know  tiie  end  from  the  beginning,  and  further,  he  must 
correlate  the  b^;inmng  to  tiie  end.  It  is  true  that 
much  may  happen  of  a  very  unexpected  character 
between  the  beginning  and  the  end.  It  is  in  this  inter- 
mediate period  between  the  beginning  and  the  end 
that  the  teacher's  individuality  has  most  scope;  but  in 
order  that  he  may  make  the  best  use  of  his  opportunities, 
it  is  essential  that  at  the  preparation  stage  he  should 
determine  his  b^pnning  and  ending. 


BBowMuiae  IN  EXFoamoN  135 

There  is  nothing  to  pmrnt  the  Umcba  m,ki„.  ,k 

beginning  that  he  fixes  upon  aTbelTmiT^.i^' 
he  «»olve,  upon  in  his  stZ  re  ^J^,f^^ 

given  them  crt^n  f«»    t      T  «•»  he  had 

Sum;  t^ZJZl-  I:^    ^  ^*  ^  essential 

^  WW  jnwdetenmned  end  should  be  modified  B,^ 
m  all  other  cases  it  is  hiehlv  desiw^Kio  ivTlTC  \ 
end  should  be  reach^^  ^  t«^^ 
in  his  arrangementTfor  meS^^ 

disturb  the  preananged  distribution  of  time  ^  thl 
teacher  may  thus  not  get  within  r^LmJuAl^  ! 
the  point  at  which  he  hadSveSTS^* 

le^  ^^'^^We  endmgs  throughout  the  couree  of  the 

bHVsste-Xr-lX  fSr'^^ 
tender  conscience^h  re^d  1  ^"l**^**? «  *  ^^ly 

woflT  m  getting  to  .  preuranged  end,  whether 


IS'  !| 


186  Ezposmoir  ahd  nxufnuTioir  or  nAamra 

the  pupils  [are  able  to  follow  or  not,  ia  wone  thaa 
a  blundw. 

In  aay  eaM  the  point  at  whieh  the  lenon  actually 
■tops  should  be  recognised  by  both  teaeher  and  pupQ 

as  a  natural  end.  It  must  not  be  a  mere  cessation  of  a 
process,  as  in  the  case  of  a  street  organ  that  stops  opera- 
tions in  the  middle  of  an  air.  Nor  must  the  teacher 
merely  allow  himself  to  run  down  like  a  clock  that  grad- 
ually ticks  more  and  more  feebly  till  at  last  it  stops. 
Nor  must  the  end  be  reached  by  mechanical  stages 
that  the  onlooker  can  anticipate.  The  mannerisms  by 
which  some  teachers  let  it  be  understood  that  the  end  is 
approaching,  frequently  indicate  rather  the  termina- 
tion of  the  hour  than  the  end  of  the  lesson.  The  true 
ending  is  felt  to  be  an  ending  as  soon  as  it  is  leaehed. 
At  the  erd  of  a  discourse  it  used  to  be  the  custom  in 
France  for  the  speaker  to  add  the  words,  J'ai  dit.  At 
the  end  of  an  address  arranged  in  the  admirable  form 
for  which  French  speakers  are  noted,  the  words  came 
as  the  inevitable  conclusion.  They  were  felt  to  be  ths 
only  words  that  would  not  have  been  ineleTant  at  tiw 
pomt  at  which  they  were  introduced. 

In  every  case  the  ending  should  find  a  natural  place  m 
the  rhjrthm  of  interest.  The  predominant  feeling  at  the 
ending  points  should  be  one  of  satisfied  interest;  but 
this  satisfaction  should  be  unstable.  The  interest  in  the 
particular  section  should  be  exhausted,  but  the  interest 
in  the  wider  whole  of  which  the  section  is  a  part  should 
be  mamtamed.  The  interest  to  be  carried  forward 
should  belong  to  the  section  that  is  to  eome,  not  to  that 
with  which  ^  lesson  finished. 


C3APTXB  Vm 

ORDXlt  tJ'  PUSIMTATION 

It  ia  one  thing  to  Mquin  knowMff  for  ooneU' 
rtu  quite  mother  to  commanicte  ttS  kJS 
Wl>«i  we  say  we  have  mastered  a  subject,  we  mauOU 
we  hav.  no»  only  anu«ed  aU  the  av  JTwTZtZ^ 
but  have  reamuwd  «hM  mMter  »  «i  to  S.™  St « 
onsamsed  form,  in  which  .«hd«n«rto«»Ji^  to^ 
reUt»n  to  aU  the  others.  Teachers  a«U  to  rart 
^tZ^f  their  menW  con^ 

J^mg  had  something  like  the  foUowing  experienwL 
^  preparing  for  the  fi«t  time  a  sSeTTT^^ 
temaUc  course  m  a  certain  subject,  the  thought  I 
Itself  into  the  mind:  "Whv  wLn't  i .     k • 

iectinthi.k^wvr^^i;„pf^X.^t 
always  appeared  to  n»  ,,.thiBgrfd»i*^ 
IshaU  take  care  that  my  pupils  «.  taughl^^^" 

^e  cause  o  the  trouble  is  that  we  areTnfusinTknfw. 

oi  View  necesearily  impheB  a  complete  knowledge  of  the 
field  to  be  covered.   It  repita^ts  the  view  th^I 
may  take  of  an  experienceThat  we  h^e  1^ 
--^te  the  same  thing  as  the  anticipati^ronhe 
expenencewearegomgtohave.   Theleanier  isfeeliM 

187 


f 

I 


188  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


his  way  into  a  region  that  is  abeady  well  known  to  the 
teacher,  who  must,  therefore,  modify  his  presentation  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  pupil  rather  than  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  logical  sequence. 

It  is  natural  that  we  should  suppose  that  logic  ought 
to  determine  for  us  the  order  in  which  matter  -'^ould  be 
presented;  but  experience  has  shown  teachers  that  they 
must  not  depend  too  mt  ch  on  logical  arrangement  in 
presenting  matter  to  young  people.  Eym  when  dealing 
with  grown-up,  educated  people,  it  is  necessary  to  be  on 
our  guard  against  a  t  >o  rigid  adherence  to  logical  pres- 
entation. In  describing  to  teachers  how  the  struc- 
ture of  animals  should  be  taught.  Sir  Archibald  Geikie 
interrupts  himself  to  remark:  — 

"  For  the  sake  of  logical  sequence,  I  have  placed  the  consideration 
of  form  before  that  of  function.  But  in  actual  practice  it  will 
not  be  always  possible,  even  were  it  deedrable,  to  separate  these  two 

subjects  sharply  from  each  other. " ' 

It  may  be  logical  to  complete  an  account  of  the  struc- 
ture of  an  animal  before  saying  a  w^ord  about  the 
functions  of  the  various  parts,  but  it  is  certainly  not 
the  best  mode  of  exposition.  The  head  of  a  London 
training  coU^,  in  dealing  with  grammar,  tdls  us: — 

"Obviously  the  psychological  order  (and  that  k  the  order  to  be 

followed  in  school-teaching)  is  (1)  the  acquirement  of  the  use  of 
language ;  (2)  the  analytical  investigation  of  language  —  that  is, 
grammar.  But,  it  might  be  argued,  grammar  deab  with  the 
presuppositions  of  language,  and  therefore  the  logical  order  is 
(l)gramniar;  (2)  the  acquirement  of  language.  Teachers  have,  how- 
ever, discovered  as  the  result  of  much  unproductive  labour  that  it  is 
impossible  to  adopt  the  logical  order  in  teaching  children.  When, 
indeed,  the  pupil  has  reached  a  certain  stage  in  the  acquirraoent  id 

'  The  Ttaching  tfGtograpk^,  p.  100. 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION  IgQ 

the  uae  of  language,  then  grammar  may  be  a  means  of  helping  him  to 
mcrease  his  mastery ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  begin  that  way."  « 

StiU,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  even  in  dealing 
with  young  people  there  is  something  objectionable  in 
logical  sequence  in  itself.  On  the  contrary,  the  logical 
sequence  represents  the  ideal  order  which  must  be 
followed  as  far  as  that  is  possible.  Every  deviation 
is  a  concession  to  human  weakness.  For  the  teacher 
the  lopcal  sequence  of  the  facts  to  be  dealt  with  is  the 
bepnnmg  of  the  process  of  Exposition:  for  the  pupU  it 
IS  the  end. 

Inhiaeas&yonthePhilosophyof  Style,  HerbCTtSpcmcer 
seeks  for  a  general  principle  underlying  all  the  recog- 
nised rules  for  verbal  expression,  and  finds  it  in  "the 
importance  of  economising  the  reader's  or  hearer's 
attention.      Eveiy  time  we  use  the  wrong  word  or  the 
wrong  order  of  words,  we  cause  eortain  wrong  combina- 
tions to  be  formed  in  the  mind  of  the  pupU,  and  the 
necessary  correction  of  these  errors  is  sheer  waste  of 
time  and  energy.    Spencer  does  not  go  into  the  mot 
propn  theory  that  for  a  given  place  in  a  given  sentence 
there  is  one  word,  and  one  word  only,  that  will  perfectly 
meet  the  case;  but  he  comes  near  to  maintaining  an 
equally  rigid  principle  for  the  order  of  words  m  a  sen- 
tence: "We  have  a  prion  reasons  for  beUeving  that  in 
every  sentence  there  is  some  one  order  of  words  mora 
effective  than  any  other."  * 

Even  when  a  sentence  is  grammaticaUy  correct  and 
18  ultimately  mtelligible,  it  may  have  its  parts  so  badly 
arranged  that  an  altogether  disproportionate  amount 

•  L.  Braekenbury:  The  Teaching  of  Grammar,  p.  7. 
Eaaaya,  Stereotyped  Edition,  Vol.  II.  n  H 

•  /M.,  p.  I«.  '  *^  *• 


190  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

of  time  and  effort  must  be  expended  over  it.  Both  of 
the  following  sentences  by  English  authoresses  of  some 
distinction  exemplify  bad  order  of  presentation:  — 

"I  am  mire,  too,  the  reputed  Hibernian  has  afforded  much  inno- 
cent amusement  who,  on  making  his  first  journey,  aslcs  why,  if  it  be 
true  that  the  last  carriage  is,  as  he  has  been  told,  dangerous  to  travel 
in.  It  is  not  taken  off." 

"The  crowd  of  faces  congregated  round  her,  and  from  its  midst 

emerged  the  one  she  shunned  supremely;  his  whose,  while  her  wiD 
remamed,  she  must  with  the  last  remnant  of  it,  shut  away." 

It  is  probable  that  Spencer  carries  his  theory  into  tco 
great  detail.   For  example,  he  prefers  the  English  order 
"black  horse"  to  the  French  "cheval  mir."    In  aU 
probability  in  both  cases  the  two  words  are  simulta- 
neously received  by  the  mind,  and  the  figure  of  the 
animal  occurs  as  accurately  to  the  Frenchman  as  to  the 
Englishman.   For  it  has  to  be  noted  that  Spencer  in  his 
essay  takes  it  for  granted  that  all  thinkmg  is  figurative. 
His  view  is  that  if  we  mention  the  horse  first  we  at  once 
make  a  picture  of  it,  and  since  we  are  not  guided  as 
to  Its  colour  we  are  more  likely  to  make  it  brown  than 
black,  because  there  are  more  brown  horses  than  black 
ones.   When  the  word  black  occurs,  we  have  to  recolour 
our  mental  horse,  and  in  this  way  lose  time  and  waste 
energy. 

Spencer  should  have  gone  farther  with  his  contrast 
between  the  black  horse  and  the  cheval  noir,  for  the 
French  have  certain  very  definite  customs  in  the  matter 
of  the  order  of  theu-  adjectives.  The  underlying  prin- 
ciple appears  to  be  that  if  the  quaUty  is  inherent  in 
the  substantive,  the  adjective  should  precede;  whfle 
If  It  is  an  accidental  quality,  as  colour  or  nationality, 
It  should  follow.  "Fo<reoimaWeJifle"isacompliiiieiit 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION  191 

not  only  to  your  daughter  but  to  you  and  her  sisters. 

Voire  filU  aimable"  is  still  a  compliment  to  thia  par- 
ticular daughter,  but  at  the  expense  of  her  sisters  and 
V,?}^^  -  it  is  no  longer  taken  for  granted  that  ami- 
abihty  18  innate  m  your  family.  The  French  have  thus 
a  means  doiied  to  us  of  conveying  a  distmction,  and  it 
IS  not  likely  to  be  maintained  that  French  thinking 
is  retarded  in  consequence. 

Whatever  may  be  true  about  the  possibility  of  simul- 
taneously graspmg  the  meaning  of  a  substantive  and 
Its  adjectives,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  when  we  come 
to  larger  divisions  of  thought  process,  great  differences 
occur  according  to  the  order  in  which  elements  are 
presented.    The  total  effect  of  a  presentation  is  not 
necessarily  the  same  in  two  exactly  shnilar  cases  be- 
cause precisely  the  same  elements  have  been  used  in 
each.   The  order  in  which  the  elements  have  been 
presented  counts  for  something,  frequently  for  a  great 
deal.   An  excellent  example  is  to  be  found  m  the  loss 
of  cumulative  effect  when  a  series  of  elements  is  pre- 
sented without  regard  to  their  degree  of  stimulating 
power.   A  passage  may  exemplify  the  rhetorical  figure 
of  clunax  or  may  convey  merely  an  unpleasant  efiPect  of 
mental  jolt:ng,  accordmg  as  the  elements  are  arranged 
m  regular  order  of  stimulus  or  "just  as  they  come." 

It  may  be  suggested  that  the  effect  here  is  rather 
esthetic ^an  mteUectual,  and  it  may  be  asked:  Is  it 
not  p<wsible  that  the  same  intdlectual  eflfect  may  be 
secured  by  quite  different  orders  of  presentation? 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  may  be  urged,  we  have  practicaUy 
all  of  us  gamed  our  present  knowledge  and  opinions 
by  different  lines  of  study  and  experience.  No  two 
or  us  have  bad  our  mental  content  presented  to  us  in 


192  EXPOSmON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACmNQ 

quite  the  same  order.  This  has  to  be  admitted.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  it  will  hardly  be  denied  that,  however 
our  knowledge  has  been  acquired,  no  two  among  us  have 
quite  the  same  mental  content,  and  even  if  it  were 
possible  that  two  of  us  should  turn  out  to  have  the  same 
mental  content  so  far  as  matter  goes,  the  arrange- 
ment of  that  matter  would  be  almost  certainly  different. 
Mathematicians  are  usually  quite  willing  to  spare  a 
little  time  to  show  the  excessively  remote  chances  of 
mental  coincidences  of  this  kind.  We  are  what  we  are, 
not  merely  because  we  know  what  we  know,  but  because 
we  possess  our  knowledge  in  a  particular  way. 

It  IS  true  that  even  if  we  have  betn  badly  taught  we 
may  have  corrected  the  errors  into  which  we  have  fallen, 
and  have  now  reached  the  same  stage  as  othm  who 
have  been  better  taught,  and  have  therefore  reached 
then-  present  stage  with  J  3s  difficulty.    But  it  is  at 
l«»st  arguable  that  m  the  process  of  being  badly  taught 
the  pupd  has  received  permanent  mjnry,  as  well  as 
suffered  loss  of  time  and  energy.   It  may  be  that  our 
present  state  of  knowledge  in  any  subject  may  bear 
definite  traces  of  the  process  by  which  that  knowledge 
has  been  acquired.    In  one  of  his  Essays,  Grant  Allen 
teUs  us  that  at  every  moment  we  are  shutting  out  one- 
half  of  the  possibiUties  of  life,  that  every  choice  we  make 
IS  a  dichotomy.   The  accompanying  diagram  may  re- 
present  Grant  Allen's  view.    Starting  from  A  we  may 
reach  ii:  by  a  series  of  four  dichotomies.    We  may  ob- 
vioudy  pass  from  ^  to     in  various  ways.    We  may 
take  the  upper  passage  ABGHK,  or  the  lower  ACFEK- 
or  we  may  take  a  zigzag  course  ABDHK  or  ABDEK 
The  important  point  for  us  to  consider  is  whether  the 
result  when  K  is  reached  is  the  awn*  in  »U  eaaee,  nor 


ORDER  OF  PRE8ENTATI0N 


198 


matter  what  the  route  has  been.  The  conclusion  seems 
inevitable  that  the  route  does  modify  the  result.  Take 
the  German  possessives  Or -her,  and  «wn«  his.  Tea 


pupil  who  approaches  this  matter  from  the  standpoint 
of  EngUsh  there  need  never  be  any  confusion  betw<%n 
thr  and  mn;  the  gender  of  the  substantive  possessed 
only  affects  the  words  to  the  extent  of  modify^rg  the 
termination.  To  an  English-speaking  puyil,  however, 
who  approaches  the  subject  through  French  there  is 
frequently  a  long  period  of  struggle  with  the  confusion 
that  results  from  the  fact  that  in  French  sa  may  mean 
Am,  and  ton  may  mean  her.  Experience  shows  that  in 
book-Ieamed  Qerman  this  confudon  persists  long  after 
a  clear  statement  of  the  facts  has  heea  thoroughly 
understood  by  the  pupil.   He  has  an  mteUectual  per- 

case  quite  as  clear  as  that  of 
his  feUow  who  has  made  the  English  approach,  but  he 
does  not  know  them  in  quite  the  same  way. 


IM  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


The  very  adjective  used  above,  "book-learned,"  in 
itself  either  begs  the  question  or  proves  that  a  fact 
learned  from  a  book  is  not  quite  the  same  thing  as  the 
same  fact  learned  in  some  other  way.   The  balance 
certainly  appears  to  incline  towards  the  difference  of  the 
result  according  to  the  means  of  obtaining  it.  Pupils 
who  have  suffered  from  bad  exposition,  nearly  always 
retain  «  certam  lack  of  confidence  in  the  use  of  matter 
that  has  been  thus  presented  to  them.*   They  are  apt 
to  bring  in  as  part  of  the  completed  whole  certain  com- 
binations that  occurred  where  they  had  no  right  to 
occur  in  the  original  process  of  presentation.  They 
were  explained  away,  no  doubt,  at  a  later  stage,  but 
they  have  left  their  traces. 

Even  m  sunple  narrative  the  order  of  presentation  is 
hnportant  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the  pomt  to  be 
brought  out.  Here  the  mere  tune  order  in  which  the 
events  occurred  is  usually  sufllcient  to  determine  the 
order  of  presentation.  When  the  careless  story-teller 
breaks  m  upon  his  narrative  with  the  apologetic:  "Oh, 
by  the  by,  I  forgot  to  tell  you—"  it  means  that  he  has 
b'  -^gled  his  presentation.  It  does  not  as  a  rule  mean 
that  he  has  forgotten  some  unimportant  detail,  but  that 
he  has  suddenly  found  that  he  has  omitted  an  important 
section  without  which  tho  whole  is  meaningless.  He 
has  accordingly  to  break  the  current  of  interest,  and 
generally  succeeds  in  confusing  the  unpression  on  the 
Ustener's  mmd.  This  does  not  mean  that  the  Ustener 
does  not  catch  the  point  of  the  story,  but  that  the  point 

» llie  ihr  and  scm  difBculty  may  entirely  disappear  under  the  in- 
fluence of  constant  use  of  German,  but  let  a  discussion  arise  about  a 
pa  rticular  case  and  the  old  doobt  wiU  Sftp  the  confidenoe  of  the  victim 
of  confused  piesentetion. 


ORDER  0*  PREgENTATIOH  105 

has  been  blunted.  In  order  to  ilhutrate  the  fact 
that  ilhterate  people  may  form  a  just  estimate  of  the 
va  lies   of  a  picture,  a  lectiu-er  told  the  ,'tory  of  the 
English  lady  who  was  accompanied  by  he-  maid  while 
viMtmg  a  certain  ItaUan  church  in  which  there  was 
a  very  fine  picture  of  the  Flight  into  Egypt.  Talking 
down  to  the  mtelligence  of  her  maid,  the  lady  asked  if 
she  did  not  greatly  admire  the  oleanders  m  the  picture, 
ine  reply  contained  an  unintentional  reproof-  "I 
wasn  t  thinkin'  o'  the  oleanders,  but  o'  the  'oly  family  " 
Unfortunately  in  using  the  iUustration  the  lecturer  began 
the  maid  s  reply,  "I  wasn't  thinking  o'  the  'oly  family, 
but  -     Though  he  caught  himself  up  at  once  and 
reversed  the  order,  the  point  was  ruined.   No  amount  of 
emphatic  explanation  could  produce  the  clear-cut  effect 
the  iDustration  had  produced  on  previous  occasions, 
•nie  audience  understood  the  point  aU  right,  b;:t  its 
effect  was  gone. 

The  general  line  of  presentation  is  practically  deter- 
mined  by  the  beginning,  since  this  in  its  turn  is  deter- 
mined  by  the  purpose  of  the  exposition,  as  was  shown 
m  the  last  chapter.   We  are  assumed,  therefore,  to 
toow  (1)  the  purpose  we  have  in  view,  (2)  the  part  of 
the  pupil  s  mental  content  that  is  relevant,  and  (3)  the 
new  material  we  propose  to  use.   The  question  now 
arises:  In  what  order  is  the  presentation  to  be  made? 
It  may  be  objected  that  it  is  hopeless  to  discuss  such 
a  question  apart  from  the  nature  of  the  particular 
matter,  as  this  would  seem  to  court  error  by  omitting 
the  most  unportant  element.   But  while  the  details  of 
presentation  must  always  be  determined  by  the  needs  of 
each  particukr  case,  there  is  a  certain  body  of  genei  il 
principles  that  are  appUcable  to  aU  cases,  and  give  us 


196  BZPOfiinON  AND  OLUSTRATION  IN  TEAOHINO 

some  guidance  in  dealing  with  each  new  set  of  circum- 
ttanees.  It  is  true  that  these  principles  are  of  a  some- 
what gmeral  nature,  and  indeed  th«y  are  sometimea  so 
vague  as  to  amount  to  little  more  than  pious  aspirations. 

"Instruct  so  that  the  matter  given  shall  be  learned" 
does  not  seem  to  carry  us  very  far;  nor  does  it  greatly 
improve  matters  to  add  —  "  and  so  that  its  culture 
oontent  may  exordse  its  due  influence."  * 

But  certain  principles  that  bear  directly  on  the  ordw 
of  presentation  have  recommended  themselves  to 
teachers  generally,  and  have  obtained  very  wide  rec- 
ognition, perhaps  because  of  then-  very  obviousness. 
The  same  interest  in  presentation  that  led  Herbert 
^aeneer  to  seek  for  the  underlymg  principle  of  Hteraiy 
expression  induced  him  to  set  forth  in  his  little  book  on 
Education^  those  fundamental  principles.  It  is  not 
suggested  that  he  originated  them,  and  it  is  not  our 
present  business  to  trace  each  of  them  to  its  source. 
We  are  mainly  interested  in  the  possibiUty  of  their 
application  in  our  work,  and  it  is  convenient  to  have 
them  in  the  clear  way  in  which  they  are  presented  by 
Spencer. 

There  are  six  of  these  principles  in  all,  but  only  the 
first  three  and  the  fifth  concern  us  here.  They  run: 
In  Education  we  should  proceed  (1)  from  the  simple  to 
the  complex,  (2)  from  the  definite  to  the  mdefinite, 
(3)  from  the  concrete  to  the  abstract.  (4)  "The  educa- 
tion of  the  child  must  accord,  both  in  mode  and  arrange- 
ment, with  the  education  of  mankind  considered  histori- 
cally." This  is  deariy  not  germane  to  our  present 
purpose;  but  from  it  is  drawn  a  principle  that  is  im- 

•  otto  Wilmann :  Didaktik  ah  Bildungabkn,  Band  II,  p.  64. 

*  ItUellectual  Education,  Chap.  II. 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION  IJJ 


portant  to  us.  As  a  special  case  of  this  fourth  principle 
comes  the  fifth.  (5)  We  must  proceed  from  the  empiri- 
cal  to  the  rationalise)  "Self-development  should  be 
encouraged  to  the  uttormost "  is  now  very  generally 
accepted,  but  like  principle  number  four  it  has  no  direct 
bearing  upon  our  subject. 

In  the  very  severe  criticism  to  which  Spencer's  book 
on  Educaiiri  has  been  subjected,  it  is  interesting  to  find 
that  these  general  principles  have  met  with  the  least 
opposition.  They  have  not  indeed  escaped  altogether, 
but  most  of  the  objections  raised  are  concerned  with 
the  meaning  attached  to  certain  terms,  and  the  critics, 
after  they  have  made  their  protest,  practically  restate 
what  Spencer  wanted  to  say,*  though  his  mode  of  ex- 
pression did  not  quite  meet  with  their  approval.  For 
example,  we  are  left  a  little  in  donbt  idiether  he  meant 
his  principles  to  be  principles  of  education,  or  merely 
principles  of  teaching.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  lets  us 
understand  that  he  is  dealing  with  the  order  of  develop- 
ment of  themmd,  and  smce  Exposition  ought  to  follow 
that  order,  the  two  positions,  the  educational  and  the 
expository,  ought  in  his  opmion  to  coincide. 
It  will  be  generally  adnutted  that  we  ou^t  to  pio- 

« The  same  is  true  about  the  geneml  eritlebm  of  the  priuciples 
themselves,  apart  altogether  from  their  connection  with  Spencer, 
^efr  blatant  obviousness  seems  to  urge  critics  to  find  fault  with  them 
This  is  what  Tusikon  Ziller  has  to  say  in  his  AOgemeint  Pddagogik: 
***  Grundwiti  war,  das  Im  Unterrichte 

vom  Einf^hen  lum  Zuaammengesetsen  fortzuschreiten  sei,  ebenso 
falsch  ist  der  andere  vulgftre  Grundsatz,  dass  vom  Bekannten  sum 
Unbekannten  fortgeschritten  werden  mOsee."  Then  he  proeeeds, 
as  one  expects,  to  explain  that  he  does  not  quite  mean  what  he  says 
He  does  not  seek  to  reverse  the  principle,  but  merely  to  bring  out  what 
it  really  meana.  We  advance  not  from  the  known  to  the  'inknown 
but  to  the  praKmtly  unknown  "mit  HQIfe  dee  Altai  and  BetamBton.'' 


lOS  IZPOBITIOIf  AND  ILLVmATUm  W  ISAORmo 

oeed  fijMn  th«  simple  to  the  complex,  though  disputes 
natunU^y  arise  lesvding  what  is  «mple  and  what  com- 

plex  Spencer'smeaningismadepliaiiinhisownwords: 
Not  only  that  we  should  proceed  from  the  simple  to  the 
combined  in  the  teaching  of  each  branch  of  knowledw- 

-K         ^1,^°^^^  do  with  knowledgelTa 

whole." «  Thus  stated,  the  principle  would  preclude 
the  exposition  of  a  complex  by  means  of  analysis- 
we  would  seem  to  be  limited  to  synthesis  in  our  teacWng.' 

But  It  may  readily  happen  that  the  pupil  knows  a  oZ- 
plex  quite  well,  and  yet  i«  ignorant  of  the  elements  of 
Z^^A  t         P«««f    A  man  may  know  what  prose 
and  be  able  to  use  it  effectively,  without  knowing  the 
elements  of  which  it  is  composed  and  the  laws  of  their 
combination.   No  doubt  in  acquiring  the  mastery  of 
the  use  of  prose  the  man  followed  the  general  principle, 
but  m  Exposition  it  is  surely  legitunate  to  reverse  the 
process.   A  pupil  may  know  the  rule  for  dividinir 
viilgar  fractions,  and  may  be  able  to  apply  it  with  great 
enect.   He  follows  his  instructions  to  "invert  the  di- 
visor and  proceed  as  in  multipli-  tion,"  and  gets  the 
desu-ed  result.   He  knows  the  rule  as  a  complex,'  but  he 
may  not  be  aware  of  the  elements  out  of  which  the  rule 
IS  built. 

In  such  a  case  the  expositor  may  weU  proceed  from 
the  e  mplex  to  the  simple.  There  is  sometimes  a  Uttle 
confusion  between  the  simple  in  itself,  and  the  simple  to 
understand.  Spencer  is  aware  of  this  danger,  and  wanis 

'  ^Mcatton,  Chap.  11,  p.  66  (cheap  edition). 
Of  course  it  my  be  quite  reasonably  objected  that  a  welJ-taueht 

T*  t^?*^''°"P'^^=  but  granted  that  the  puS  Sl 
been  badly  taught,  the  expositor's  best  plan  is  to  work  ftom  SL  «! 
suits  already  attained,  however  bad  they  may  J°  '^'^  *^ 


OBWB  OP  PRBBBNTATION  igg 
teachers  that  "a  generaliaatioii  is  simple  only  fa  eom. 
iw.eiids— that  it  u  more  complen  than  anv  om  of  th^ 

of  .yjng  down  th.  "w.n^to  to  O^t^t  pZ^J^ 
W,th  th.8  rule  the  te«A«r  need  have  no  qiuwd.  Sm. 

Sj^attlTi'"  '^'ble  to  break  iTThtS 
that  attempt,  have  been  made  to  teach  in  the  rev^ 

indeed,  for  centuriea  teadMn  beUeved  that  they  were 
teachmg  from  the  abrtr^it  to  th.  cZZ  -T^ 

BodouHbutnotbecauseoftheruIeetheyleamt.  TW 
d.d  not  «ad««M,d  Utin  because  of  the  rute  bume 
rules  becai«e  of  th^Utin.  Th.te«>h.„Sot  reX 
teach  at  all.   What  they  did  was  to  provide 

to  fa^  i°  which  it  was  unplLant^ 

TJ^.^-J?T'*^  """K^'  he  was  teaching 
iuv  I,  ^1"^  t  •»»'»^'  but  the  pupilB  act!? 
ally  learned  from  the  concrete  to  the  ahtoeT  It  k 

Sl^rt  ^""^  ""''^  "       been  reached  by 

m«»  of  the  concrete  from  which  it  has  been  derived 
With  an  entirely  new  abstraction  in  relation  to^ 
enhrely  new  bit  of  the  concrete  the  mind  ^  work  to 

«dm^  «nje„ence  cases  of  pure  abstraction  are  nu? 

P««»  torn  what  It  know,  of  the  concrete  to  deal  with 
•  UwMiKi,  Oip.  n,  p. 


200  BXPouTioN  AND  ULuvnuTioir  Of  musBiira 


the  •bftiMtkm  tluit  is  preMnted  to  it.  From  the  ab- 
stract ftatement  "Thii«i  that  are  equal  to  the  mbw 

thing  are  equal  to  one  another"  the  pupil  may  be  made 
to  pass  to  the  concrete  case  that  if  Tom  is  the  same 
height  as  James,  and  William  is  the  same  height  as 
James,  then  Tom  is  the  same  height  as  William.  But 
the  abstract  statement,  so  far  from  making  clear  the 
equality  in  the  height  of  Tom  and  William,  would  not 
be  even  intelligible  to  the  pupil  but  for  many  similar 
measurements  that  have  been  made  in  his  experience 
before  the  abstract  statement  was  heard  of.  Indeed, 
is  it  not  a  contradiction  in  terms  to  maintain  that  one 
can  understand  an  abstraction  without  first  knowing 
the  something  from  which  the  abstraction  has  been 
made  ? 

The  truth  is  that  in  ordinary  life  there  is  a  constant 
alternation  between  the  abstract  and  the  concrete  in  the 
process  of  acquiring  knowledfie.   By  careful  examina^ 
tion  of  the  concrete  we  reach  a  certain  abstraction; 
but  we  at  once  proceed  to  apply  this  abstraction  by 
maki      I  new  connection  with  the  concrete.   As  the 
result      abstraction  from  many  concrete  cases  Mill 
enunciates  his  canons.   Forthwith  he  exemphfies  them 
by  means  first  of  letters,  and  then  by  still  more  matmal 
examples.    He  appears  to  be  teaching  from  the  ab- 
stract to  the  concrete,  but  in  so  far  as  his  abstractions  are 
understood  at  the  first  presentation,  they  are  under- 
stood in  terms  of  the  concrete  experience  of  the  pupil. 
Logical  presentation  is  possible  with  pupils  who  have  ft 
wide  though  ill-arranged  knowledge  of  the  subject. 
Grammar,  for  example,  may  be  taiiPjht  in  logical  order  to 
a  person  who  has  a  really  good  working  acquaintance 
with  the  Unguage  in  connection  with  which  it  is  to  be 


ORDBR  or  nmmnAmm 


tought.  The  very  limitation  here  involved  is  sugges- 
tive. The  language  aMumed  to  be  known  forms  the 
necessaiyeonerete. 

In  many  cases  the  facts  to  be  presented  are  of  oofitdi- 
nate  rank  and  may  be  brought  forward  in  almost  any 
order.   Take  the  diflferent  kinds  of  subordinate  clauses 
as  theee  are  dealt  with  in  the  analysis  of  sentences. 
It  does  not  matter  mueh  whether  we  be^  with  the 
Noun  CJlause,  the  Adjective  Clause,  or  the  Adverb 
Clause,  on  the  understanding  that  the  pupils  have 
already  mastered  the  Parts  of  Speech  and  are  familiar 
with  their  functions.   On  the  other  hand,  if  gram- 
matical ooutniction  is  being  approached  by  means  of 
the  Analysis  of  Senteneee  instead  of  by  Parsing,  then 
it  might  be  desirable  to  begin  with  the  Noun  Clause 
rather  than  with  either  of  the  others.   Indeed,  when  the 
teacher  comes  to  the  pomt  of  choosing  the  order  of 
presentation,  he  will  ahnost  always  find  that  there  is 
some  one  order  that  for  some  reason  or  other  ought  to 
be  preferred.   Further,  this  order  is  not  a  permaneiit 
one.   Next  time  he  has  to  deal  with  the  same  matter 
but  with  a  different  class,  he  may  find  that  a  different 
order  is  preferable.   The  different  clauses  of  Magna 
Charta  are  to  a  certain  extent  codrdinate.  They  form 
part  of  the  one  great  document  But  thehr  order  of 
presentation  would  be  different  under  different  circum^ 
stances.   For  example,  if  we  are  considering  the  docu- 
ment merely  as  a  document,  —  as  a  specimen  in  the 
sci«ice  known  as  Diplomatic,  —  the  clauses  would  be 
dealt  with  in  the  order  hi  which  they  occur  on  the 
parchment.  In  general  constitutional  hist{&y  theelauses 
would  be  presented  in  their  order  of  importance  to  the 
constitutional  history  of  the  country.   We  might  either 


202  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUOTBATIGN  IN  TEAOHDfO 

begin  With  the  least  important  and  work  up  to  the 
most  important,  or  we  mi|^t  reverse  that  order.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  our  main  purpose  is  to  illustrate  some 
special  pomt  -  say  the  position  of  the  artisan  class 
in  the  Thirteenth  Century  -  our  presentation  might 
centre  round  one  point,  say  the  term  Contenement: 
H  our  interests  are  mainly  in  commercial  matters,  the 
clauses  deahng  with  weights  and  measures  and  perinal 
freedom  of  movement  from  place  to  place  might  come 
m  the  first  rank. 

It  not  mfrequently  happens  that  in  expounding  a 
particulw-  subject  there  are  two  or  three  terms  to  be 
explained  ard  the  whole  subject  camiot  be  properly 
understood  until  these  subordinate  terms  are  made 
clear.    Sometimes  lengthy  expositions  of  these  sub- 
ordinate terms  are  given,  while  the  whole  process  of 
^deretimdmg  the  main  subject  is  suspended.  Occa- 
aonaUythisismevitable.   But  we  must  regard  it  as  a 
danger  signal  when  we  have  to  introduce  some  such 
statement  as:    Before  we  can  proceed  to  the  consid^ 
^on  of  the  subject  at  issue  it  is  necessary,  et  cetera, 
^tera.      Every  time  we  interpolate  explanator^ 
matter  we  must  satisfy  ourselves  that  there  is  no  more 
suitable  placefor  it;  and  when  wesee  no  way  of  avoiding 
the  interpolation,  we  must  do  all  we  can  to  prevent  ito 
Sought    "^^'^  ^""^    the  main  line  of 

«»uaer  or  nis  fault,  and  for  a  great  crime  accordina  to  the  heinni». 
ness  of  It,  saving  to  him  his  contenemenf  and  afterTlTjr.  ^ 
a  merchant,  saving  to  him  his  meXSdfae  "   T?Jn  ^Sf 

s'^titio^*"-;?-"^    ^^^'"3  n^^to^^jr:'; 

ploughs  and  waggons  of  a  peasant.  hw 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION 


We  must  always  try  to  keep  our  subordinate  ex- 
planations closely  connected  with  our  main  subject, 
and  with  each  other.  In  order  to  explain  A,  of  which 
the  pupils  know  a  little,  we  may  have  to  explam  X  and 
F,  of  which  they  know  less.  We  must  guard  ourselves 
against  leavmg  il  and  F  quite  isolated  while  we  plunge 
into  long  explanations  of  X.  We  must  adopt  at  least  a 
working  explanation  of  Y  while  we  are  elaboratmg  X, 
else  the  bearing  of  X  upon  A  will  probably  be  obscured! 
This  will  be  better  understood  by  an  example;  the 
writer  quoted  is  expounding  the  nature  of  Narrative :  — 

"A  narrative  is  a  representation  of  a  series  of  events.  This  ia 
a  very  simple  definition ;  and  only  two  words  (rf  it  can  possiUy 
demand  elucidation.  Tliese  words  are  aeries  and  event.  The  woid 
everd  will  be  explained  fully  in  a  later  8e»tion  of  this  chapter :  mean- 
while it  may  be  understood  loosely  as  synonymous  with  happening. 
Let  us  first  examine  the  exact  meaning  of  the  word  series. 

The  word  series  implies  much  more  than  the  word  succession: 
it  implies  a  rdatkm  not  merely  chronological  but  also  logical;  and 
the  logical  lelaticm  it  unplies  is  that  (rf  cause  and  effeet.  .  .  ."> 

Then  the  writer  goes  on  for  seven  pages  elaboratmg  the 
meanmg  of  this  term  tenet,  before  he  begins  to  treat  of 
the  parallel  term.  But  thanks  to  his  thoughtfuhiess  in 
supplying  us  with  a  working  definition  of  event,  we  are 
able  all  the  time  we  are  considering  series  to  make  use  of 
both  this  term  and  the  term  event  to  help  us  in  under- 
standing what  the  expositor  is  tellmg  us  about  nar- 
rative. 

This  anticipatory  treatment  in  which  we  refer  to  cer- 
tain aspects  of  a  subject  before  we  actually  deal  with 
them  in  detail  is  applicable  on  a  large  scale.  In  plan- 
ning out  a  book,  for  example,  the  same  principles  obtain 

» Caayton  HMDflttm :  MatariaU  and  Methods  of  Fiction,  p.  44. 


20*  BXPosmoK  Aim  atogmiKw  w  ihachino 

""t  "J^*^-  ^«      ""'king  with  a 
may  be  Ulustrated  by  nrfaence  to  the  idea  of 
Itself  as  treated  in  this  book.   In  Chapter  H,^  C 
a  general  reference  to  the  idea  of  the  unit  of  Bx^Z^ 

d«taictivo  process  m  preparation  for  constructive 
Then  «^  u,  Chapter  IV  to  have  the  unit  regarded  m 
a  part  of  a  background,  where  we  have  to  d^ti  u 

mClwpterXIIwehaveanew  -iew  of  the  unit.  Inthat 
chapter  It  is  used  for  purposes  of  comparison  Instep 
of  b«ng  wmething  to  be  analy^  out,  or  to  be  uLd^l 
bnck  to  buUd  up  with,  it  is  to  be  u^  as  a  sCi^ 
by  which  quantities  of  aU  kmds  may  be  mJ^^^Tt 
may  naturally  be  objected  that  it  I  bad  Z^tiJL 

TL  k^^'  ^  f'"''  ^  writer  say 

oono  witn  It?  But  it  is  aU  a  matter  of  emphasis 

ky  great  stress  on  the  Motion  of  the  unit  as  such,Then 
he  would  h  ve  devoted  a  chapter  to  this  subS 
"  ^V'^v*'  0'        of  'he  other  chLte^ 

T  1°  ""oughout  thX^ 

But  even  when  a  special  chapter  has  been  seT^Ste . 

Mrth^tx^r^ivrrrit""^ 

Jn ChapSril  ""^  ^2.  «  m^S.' 

In  Chapter  IV  some  pages  are  devoted  to  the  tteatmeot 
of  the  picture,  but  here  it  is  the  mentiU  pictmeS. 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION 


205 


under  disouanon,  the  incture  the  pupn  formB  for  Idnt- 
self  as  the  result  of  verbal  description.  In  Chapter 
XIV  we  are  dealing  with  the  picture  as  something  ob- 
jective, in  Chapter  IV  as  something  subjective. 

The  index  of  any  book  one  takes  up  supplies  many 
illustrations  of  the  distribution  throughout  the  text  of 
the  treatment  of  certain  subjects  that  the  reader  might 
prefer  to  have  had  grouped  together  in  one  place.  But 
apart  from  the  fact  that  we  cannot  have  a  book  ar- 
ranged according  to  the  desires  of  each  reader,  it  has 
to  be  remembered  that  there  is  a  certain  compensating 
advantage  in  treating  the  same  matto-  at  different 
stages,  and  in  different  connections.  There  is  an  ad- 
vantage in  familiarising  the  mind  of  the  reader  with  a 
given  fact  before  that  fact  is  brought  forward  for  more 
or  less  exhaustive  treatment.  Novelists  frequently 
introduce  a  fact  two  or  three  times  in  a  very  incidental 
way  at  the  early  part  of  the  story  in  order  that  it  may 
be  the  more  effectively  treated  when  its  turn  comes. 
This  principle  of  casual  introduction  of  matter  to  be 
afterwards  elaborated  may  be  used  by  the  teacher  i,. 
two  ways.  He  may  imitate  the  novelist  and  use  this 
order  of  presentalion  in  ordor  to  build  up  interest. 
Several  illustrations  will  be  found  further  on  in  this 
chapter,  and  in  the  next  there  occurs  a  deferred  illustra- 
tion of  a  generalisation  from  Herbert  Spencer  quoted 
in  Chapter  III.  It  will  probably  be  felt  that  this  illus- 
tration is  'jot  only  useful  where  it  is,  but  that  it  has  an 
increased  force  in  relation  to  its  (O^sinal  generalisation 
becaus'j  of  the  delay. 

[This  paragraph,  within  brackets,  is  deliberately  in- 
troduced in  order  to  explain  its  own  vices  in  relation  to 
the  principles  of  Presentation.  It  is  thrust  m,  you  will 


206  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

observe,  between  two  sections.   The  teacher  uses  a 

H!«Tf  -.1  r'®.^  ^.''^  been 
dealt  with,  the  other  is  yet  to  come,  and  this  paragraph 

IS  thrust  in  between  them.   This  is  bad,  and  is  oiUy 
justifiable  because  it  emphasises  a  defect  by  callini 
attention  to  it  at  the  very  moment  when  it  is  producing 
Its  mitating  results.   The  paragraph  originates  really 
in  the  desire  to  caU  immediate  attention  to  a  blunder 
in  presentation  that  has  just  been  made.   While  it  is 
excellent  to  refer  to  something  that  has  already  occurred 
in  a  book,  it  is  generally  a  mistake  to  refer  specifically 
to  what  has  not  yet  been  reached.   In  the  preceding 
paragraph  the  reader  is  practically  invited  to  turn  to 
the  next  chapter  and  read  a  particular  passage,  which 
he  IS  then  to  compare  with  a  passage  in  Chapter  III. 
This  not  only  seriously  interferes  with  the  reader's  line 
of  thought  m  this  chapter,  but  spoils  the  effect  of  the 
passage  he  is  invited  to  read.    That  passage  occurs 
m  a  certam  connection,  where  it  is  assumed  it  ought  to 
occur.   To  read  it  in  the  first  instance  apart  from  this 
connection  is  obviously  to  do  it  mjustice.   It  is  quite 
different  in  cases  where  we  are  referring  back  to  passages 
that  ha^   been  read  in  then-  proper  order  and  arenow 
considered  m  a  new  connection.   The  same  objection 
does  not  he  against  the  reference  m  the  previous  para- 
graph to  Chapter  XIV.   There  is  in  that  case  no  caU  to 
turn  to  Chapter  XIV  at  aU.   Its  very  title  conveys  aU 
the  information  necessary  to  understand  the  reference 
in  the  text.   After  reading  in  typoscript  the  above  de- 
plorable divagation,  my  colleague.  Dr.  T.  Percy  Nunn,' 

ofal-LtTh'"^"  *  P'^*'  ''"t  in  absence 

1*.  NUM  f or  his  kiiKinesB  in  re««ng  throuj^     the  very  lli^ 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION 


207 


80  far  from  helping  me  to  return  to  the  straight  path, 
led  me  into  temptation  by  sending  me  his  copy  of  a 
work  by  that  Master  of  Exposition,  Sir  OUver  Lodge. 
I  looked  into  the  book  *  and  was  lost.  Sir  Olive's  words 
in  the  Preface  form  an  admirable  commentary  on  what 
I  have  already  writtw:  — 

"Since  the  book  k  intended  to  be  useful  to  the  hif^er  class  of 

students,  it  seemed  very  permissable  to  adopt  a  method  which  I  al- 
ways use  in  teaching;  viz.  to  begin  by  giving  some  ideas  at  first, 
and  to  gradually  polish  them  up  later,  rather  than  by  attempting  a 
too  highly  finished  statement  06  inUio  to  overburden  and  depress, 
and  possibly  to  confuse,  a  student.  Because  of  this  progressive 
arrangement,  I  may  be  permitted  to  urge  students  to  read  the  book 
through  before  proceeding  to  dip  into  it  by  help  of  the  index,  and 
be/ore  taking  notice  of  references  forward  which  subsequently  it  is 
hoped  wiU  prove  vMfid."*  (Italics  mine,  to  emphasise  the  applica- 
tion to  the  {ncflent  bode.) 

Naturally  the  same  principles  may  be  applied  in  oral 
Exposition,  but  with  a  greater  sense  of  responsibility,  as 
the  pupil  is  entirely  in  the  oipositor's  hands.]  * 
The  second  use  the  teacher  may  make  of  the  ineiden- 

just  before  going  to  press,  the  <7poscript  <rf  this  book,  and  for  tiM 

really  valuable  criticism  and  help  he  gave. 
•  Modern  Views  of  Electricity. 

'  Those  who  are  interested  in  the  presentation  of  this  subject  will 
find  in  Modem  Views  of  Electricity  examples  of  "anticipations  "  and 
"references  forward"  on  pages  16,  17,  28,  42,  90,  94,  96,  98,  99,  105, 
128, 144,  etc.,  of  the  first  edition,  1889.  For  an  interesting  illustration 
of  the  preparation  for  a  subject  by  incidental  reference  to  it  in  order 
gradually  to  build  up  an  interest  in  it,  see  EHr  (Wvet's  treatinmt  of 
the  topic  "Does  electricity  posseM  inwtia?"  in  seetiras  (mt  pages) 
7,  42-48,  88,  89,  98,  105. 

'  On  rc-rcading  the  above  paragraph  iUtistrating  defective  arrange- 
ment it  strikes  me  that  I  have  rather  overdone  it.  We  could  hardly 
have  a  worse  case  of  congestion :  but  I  let  it  stand,  as  the  reader's 
initation  wiU  only  emphasise  tbe  Isason  meant  to  be  eonveyed. 


208  KXP08ITKW  iSD  ttLtnmUTIOIf  IN  TEACHWO 

to!  introduction  of  some  mat»er  before  it  is  really  wanted 

»  «««tly  the  cppodte  of  tl>e  novelist's.  He 

to  eriuiujt  the  iatrinsio  interert  of  matter  t^H  t^ 

attractive  matter  m  unimportant  places,  he  aUo4  the 

fl.»l».  been  repeated  two  or  three  times  the  pu^S 
»  ready  to  take  a  new  point  of  view  from  the  teachar 
Md  get  up  a  secondary  interest  at  the  proper  pSr' 
^metimes  the  order  of  presentation  is  detemined  bv 
ve^practical  considerations.  In  preparinS^ t 
^  some  .fifference whether  the  pupU  is'toU^'^i' 

^L.  P»««<al  presentation  commonly 

known  as  "directions,"  when  wppBed  alone  with 
nmchines  implements,  or  commo<Uties  tlT^rS 

erection.  Be  careful  to  lower  the  pointer  when  re- 
pUcmg  the  carri,^"  „„omi«i  aftor  Uie  instmcUoJT 
sef  o7™^-  T/'  "  At  the  head  of  ev^ 

«««  ««d  <A«  dtrectum,  right  through  btfore  ^rfwi^vte 

This  natunJly  ndaes  the  question  of  the  hein  th.t 
hal''"',K'.''  Presentation  Jve.  to  a^ot^.T 
happen  that  what  is  obscure  when  only  elWta 

Ss^  ti^jsir-^*  "r™^  ""''^  derrr^sorst 

thttd  element  is  brought  forward.  This  involv  i  the 
Woblem  of  suspended  understanding  durmg  °  pi«l 
of  presentation.  Is  it  justifiable  to  present  at  a  X» 
tmie  certain  matters  that  camiot  ,LibIy  be 

Thh « furtlw detlt rttt to Cb.,,. Xni>.  m. 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION 


stood  by  the  pupils  till  at  a  later  stage  additbnal  matter 
is  supplied  ?  If  it  is  a  case  of  presenting  matter  that 
cannot  be  understood  at  all  at  a  particular  stage,  but 
must  be  got  up  by  memory  for  use  later  on,  it  will 
probidi>ly  be  agreed  that  the  presratation  should  not  be 
made.  It  is  different,  however,  when  the  presented 
matter  cannot  be  fully  understood  at  the  time  of  pre- 
sentation, but  will  be  fully  understood  when  additional 
matter  is  presented  at  a  later  stage.  Almost  all  our 
presentations  are  open  to  the  objection  that  the  matter 
brought  fonrard  cannot  at  the  mcnnrat  be  fully  unda> 
stood.  All  that  we  can  hope  for  is  that  it  may  not  be 
misunderstood.  From  the  material  supplied,  the  pupils 
may  make  premature  conceptions  that  must  after- 
wards be  painfully  destroyed  in  order  to  make  way  for 
the  correct  cons^ction.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear 
post-graduate  students  who  are  being  trained  to  teach 
the  elementary  subjects  confess  that  they  never  under- 
stood the  true  meaning  of  what  is  called  simple  sub- 
traction till  they  saw  the  subject  taught  in  the  demon- 
stration school.  They  oStm  find  that  they  have  to 
break  down  and  reconstruct  all  their  idea  combmations 
on  the  subject.  So  with  pupils  who  have  been  tau^t 
mnsion  or  music  on  purely  mathematical  lines:  there 
i  imes  a  period  of  necessary  reconstruction  when  they 
xvoeh  the  stage  of  artistic  appreciation.  Pupils  who 
have  had  drawing  presented  to  them  as  a  system  of  fine- 
line  copying  from  the  flat  have  to  fight  very  hard  indeed 
before  they  can  break  up  the  false  combinations  and  by 
reconstruction  attain  the  freedom  to  use  drawing  as  a 
means  of  expression.  Doubtless  the  reader's  own  edu- 
cation furnishes  him  with  more  than  (me  illustration 
of  this  need  for  reconstruction.  There  are  cases,  as  we 


210  BXPOMTIOIf  AND  OLUBllUTION  Df  TBACHWO 

Aan  aee  later  in  the  chapter,  in  which  this  formation 
o  premature  conceptions  and  their  correction  may  be 
turned  to  good  account,  aa  a  means  of  strengtheninir  a 
desired  aesthetic  or  moral  effect.  But  on  the  coSve 
side  we  must  do  all  we  can  to  secure  the  coirecTcnoJ 
ne^ly  the  complete)  conception  at  the  very  start 
tiol^^*  that  certain  orders  of  presenta: 

turn  are  more  economical  of  the  pupil's  time  and  energy 
than  are  others,  it  may  be  objected  that  the  teachers 
busmess  is  not  to  save  the  pupil's  time  and  enei^r,  but 

mifnTJTwlJ'^u'^P'"^''^'^-  There  are  th^  who 
ma«itam  that  the  best  progress  is  made  by  the  process 
of  tnal  and  error.  The  argument  is  that  you  Lw  a 
thing  better  If  you  have  made  your  blunders,  and  found 
out  the  truth  for  yourself .  The  result  is  mo^  your  own 
than  if  It  had  been  pumped  into  you  by  a  watchful 
t|^her  who  stood  by  all  the  time  to  prevent  the  possi- 
bihty  of  your  going  wrong. 

J^f.^^'^^T^'     ^  ^  »  '^^eht  confu- 

«on  of  thought  between  the  different  parts  of  a  teacher's 
work.    The  formation  of  character  is  one  thing,  the  ex- 
position of  a  subject  another.    A  man  may  often  be  a 
bettei-,  because  a  stronger,  man  on  account  of  the  diffi- 
culties he  experienced  in  acquiring  the  knowledge  he 
needed    But  it  does  not  foUow  that  he  kno4  his 
subject  better  because  he  had  to  study  it  under  bad 
conditions.   The  argument  of  those  who  underesti- 
mate the  value  of  careful  teaching  is  that  the  pupils 
^me  emasculated,  and  unfit  for  any  serious  study. 
But  surely  it  is  idle  to  complam  that  we  are  doing  too 
much  for  our  pupils.    There  is  a  limit  beyond  which 
It  IS  impossible  to  help  them  at  all.   Beyond  that 
limit  our  help  becomes  a  hmdrance.   To  pass  that 


ORDEB  OF  PRESENTATION 


211 


limit  it  dMi^  bad  Exposition,  but  up  to  that  limit 
the  more  we  can  help  the  pupil  the  better.  There 
always  will  remain  the  irreducible  surd  of  individual 
effort  that  cannot  be  eliminated  by  any  amount  of 
external  help. 

On  the  oUier  hand,  there  is  the  danger  tiiat  eome 
teachers  may  regard  the  giving  of  trouble  as  in  itself  a 
laudable  thing.  The  implied  argument  is  surely  easily 
disposed  of  by  a  reductio  ad  abmrdum.  If  the  increasing 
of  the  difficulties  of  our  pupils  is  an  advantage,  it 
would  naturally  follow  that  the  worse  our  exposition 
the  bettor  for  our  pupils.  The  teacher  who  provided 
the  worst  text-books  and  made  his  pupils  work  under 
the  worst  conditions  would  do  them  most  good.  Some 
teachers  actually  adopt  this  attitude,  and  oppose  the  in- 
troduction of  the  metric  system  on  the  ground  that 
th  pupils  would  lose  the  enormous  advantage  of 
h  to  cope  with  those  curious  vestigial  items  h\  and 
3O4  tnat  adorn  our  present  arithmetical  tables.  In 
the  course  of  a  recent  examination  in  Education  as  one 
of  the  subjects  for  a  university  degree,  I  set  the  follow- 
ing question: — 

"  Speaking  of  the  limited  educational  curriculum  in  the  beat  days 
of  Greece,  Fitrfeasor  Boawquet  asks:  'Hoiir  was  m  mudi  made  oat 
(rfsolittle?'  WhataoiwerwoukiycNiiiqggBStr'' 

A  large  peK»nti^se  of  the  candidates  took  occasion  to 
point  out  that  the  curriculum  was  not  nearly  so  inade* 
quate  as  it  appeared.  The  subjects  studied  had  the 
advantage  of  several  difficulties  that  are  no  longer 
available  in  our  modem  schools.  For  example,  the 
Greek  characters  were  not  only  made  by  the  hand  and 
therefore  rather  ehun^y,  but  they  were  arranged  with 


212  BXPOeiTIQII  AND  ILLUBTlUTIOir  IN  TBACHINO 

S^dl^i"'^  *^  ""^  ^  '^P^^te  out  the 

Sr***!**  •        •"^^  attention 
and  ingenui  y;  whUe  the  fact  th«t  the  Greek  numerab 

opportunities  for  strenuous  training 

I.  J^'lSf*^  ^  ^•^^"t  the  dangers  of 

•  »oft  pe<Ugogy  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  it  is 
possible  to  make  teaching  so  perfect  that  notWng  s 
leftfor  the  pupils  to  do.  But  aU  that  the  most  skUfu^ 
presentation  can  do  is  to  prevent  the  pupils  from 

^L:*r*'  '^'^  '"^^  unprofitableVrS 
^Ang theirenergy;  as,  for  example,  in  manipulating 
antique  tables  and  separating  words  that  should  never 
have  been  umted.   The  better  the  exposition  the^ow 

nrnl      ^^T^^  ^^^^  tO  their 

^gr^  under  th^  conditions  being,  in  fact,  the  necel- 
w^hmits  miposed  by  the  need  of  time  for  consoU^ 


For  it  has  to  be  remembered  that  apupfl  cannot  Ko  on 

^  n.^!f  T*^'  presented.  However  brilliant  the  natu- 
wl  p^  of  the  pupil,  and  however  skilful  the  expositor 
may  be  th^  m  a  limit  to  the  speed  at  whichTpupU 

ILr/v  M""^'^  .  practical  m^ 

admits  this,  though  with  obvious  regret.  It  is  wiS 
reluctance  that  he  acknowledges  thTle  caLot^S 
old  heads  on  young  shoulders.  There  are  no  doubt 
sound  psycho-physical  reasons  why  even  an  Isaac 

cental  ^rv"^.  ^^foirh 

can  deal  with  certam  mathematical  problems.   For  our 

uTmeltar"'  "  "^^^  toX^rffth^ 
^mental  processes  mvolve  a  certain  expenditure  of 
tune.   Natural  processes  may  be  greatly  accelerated  ^ 


OKDMSL  or  PBIBKNTATION 


318 


a  forcing  house,  but  even  in  a  forcing  house  a  minimum 
time  limit  is  imposed.  Stupid  pupils  demand  a  long 
time,*  but  even  the  derereit,  when  treated  under  the 
most  favourable  conditions,  must  have  a  minimntn  time 
to  consolidate  their  gains.  There  is  no  fear  ci  exeeHive 
speed  through  excellent  exposition. 

The  figure  of  the  forcing  house  brings  forward  an- 
other aspect  of  the  objection  that  deserves  treatment, 
since  there  Is  a  basis  of  truth  underlying  it.  Some 
writers  want  to  know  whether,  by  this  very  carefully 
prepared  exposition,  we  may  not  weaken  the  power 
of  initiative  of  our  pupils  and  make  them  incapable 
of  learning  anything  for  themselves.  It  is  pointed  out 
that  certam  schools  that  have  specially  laid  themselves 
out  to  prepare  pupils  for  examinations,  have  reduced 
the  art  of  Exposition  to  such  a  tate  of  formal  perfection 
that  nothing  is  left  for  the  pupils  to  do.  But  cramn.ing 
and  Exposition  are  different  thing  .  The  crammer's 
aim  is  to  get  his  pupil  to  reproduce  under  unhealthy 
conditions  a  certain  amount  of  information.  He  is 
not  concerned  how  the  matter  is  retained,  so  long  as  it 
is  there  when  called  for;  nor  whether  it  is  understood 
or  not,  so  long  as  it  can  be  put  down  on  paper  without 
betraying  any  lack  of  comprehension.  The  aim  of  the 
expositor,  on  the  other  hand,  is  frustrated  if  the  pupil 
does  not  understand  the  matter  presented.  But  surely 
the  more  easily  the  pupil  can  be  made  to  understand  tlM 

*  Experienced  coaches  have  great  faith  in  the  eflBcacy  of  time  in 
removing  difficulties.  Dr.  David  Rennet,  the  distinguished  mathe- 
matical coach  at  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  whose  success  in  pre- 
paring for  examinations  is  phenomenal,  is  sometimes  encouraging  to 
dull  but  earnest  pupils  when  they  are  worsted  by  a  problem  even 
after  it  ha"  been  explained.  His  temaric  is:  "AwedftliMi.  Teauiit 
juist  wait  wl  it  sipes  [soaks]  in." 


214  EXPOBinoil  AND  UXUfTBATIOir  Of  nAOHlMO 

belt«r.  It  doM  not  follow  th*t  the  most  direct  recti- 
lineal exposition  is  the  ewlert  in  the  long  run.  Every, 
thing  has  to  be  judged  by  the  kind  of  undentanding 

attained.   But  assuming  that  our  aim  is  the  highest 
form  of  understanding,  then  it  may  be  talten  for 
panted  that  the  easiest  way  to  atiain  that  form  is  the 
best.  To  deny  this  is  to  assert  that  labour  and  trouble 
are  m  themselves  desirable.   If  there  is  any  suggestion 
about  "their  value  as  training,"  etc.,  it  is  a  sufficient 
reply  that  all  this  is  already  discounted  when  we  have 
•ocepted  as  our  aim  the  highest  form  of  result.   It  is  for 
this  reason  that  the  expositor  is  entitled  to  use  con- 
trast, and  even  oontradiction,  if  he  oan  show  that  these 
are  better  means  of  expounding  his  subject  than 
straightforward  presentation  of  facts  that  are  easily 
assmulated.   Under  certain  conditions  it  may  be  desir- 
able to  go  against  the  principle  of  economy  on  which 
Spencer  lays  so  much  stress.   But  m  aU  such  cases  it 
will  be  found  that  we  are  keeping  to  the  spirit  of  Spen- 
cer  s  pnnciple,  though  we  reject  the  letter.  It  is  weU  to 
follow  the  Une  of  least  resistance,  but  naturally  every- 
thing depends  upon  where  one  wishes  to  go.  The 
means  are  reUtive  to  the  end:  it  is  another  case  of  the 
longest  way  round  being  sometimes  the  shortest  wav 
home.  ' 

When  Nathan  icd  the  unsuspecting  David  to  con- 
demn himself  in  the  person  of  the  robber  of  the  one 
ewe  lamb,  he  was  supplymg  us  with  an  excellent  ex- 
ample of  a  "premature  conception"  that  had  to  be 
destroyed  and  reconstructed  before  the  prophet's  ex- 
position was  successful.  But  obviously  the  result  was 
worth  the  expenditure  of  time  and  energy.  Indeed,  it 
may  fauiy  be  said  that  to  attain  the  result  the  prophet 


OBon  OF  ntinDiTATioir  ais 


had  in  view  the  roundabout  way  was  the  line  of 
least  nsistanee.  An  intdleetual  irndflfrtaadiiic  of  tiie 
case  could  no  doubt  have  bacD  secured  in  Davki'i 

mind  without  this  troublesome  reconstruction,  but  the 
prophet  wanted  something  more  Uuui  mere  inteUeetual 
consent. 

In  Nathan's  case  the  matter  was  so  skilfully  pre- 
sented that  there  was  no  room  for  error.  The  recon- 
struction was  not  called  for  till  the  very  moment  it  was 
needed,  and  the  first  construction  did  not  in  itself  in 
any  way  conflict  with  the  effect  of  the  second.  But  the 
greatest  care  is  necessary  to  prevent  the  first  construc- 
tion from  making  the  second  impossible.  Anamiablo 
old  gentleman  was  called  upon  to  propose  a  vote  ot 
thanks  to  the  chairman  and  governors  of  a  great 
school  at  the  distribution  of  prizes.  Tired  of  the  con- 
ventional way  of  doing  what  was  expected  of  him,  he 
thou^t  he  would  introduce  an  agreeable  variety  by 
emphasising  the  brighter  side  of  a  governor's  office. 
Accordingly  he  pointed  out  that  though  the  duties  of  a 
governor  were  very  exacting,  and  involved  a  great 
expenditure  of  time  and  energy,  the  go 'emors  were 
very  well  paid  for  it.  He  had  intended  to  round  off  his 
speech  with  a  glowing  account  of  the  joys  of  being  kept 
young  by  constant  contact  with  the  fresh  young  life 
that  he  saw  before  him,  and  of  being  cheered  by  the 
glow  of  good  work  well  done,  and  a  number  of  other 
compensating  satisfjacticns  that  come  by  way  of  re- 
ward to  the  conscientious  governor.  But  at  the  mere 
words  "well  paid  for  it"  there  arose  such  a  murmur 
of  protest  among  the  assembled  governors  that  the  re- 
mainder of  the  amiable  gentleman's  speech  consisted  of 

hurried  explanation  that  "that  is  not  what  I  meant." 


216  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  Df  TEACHINO 


This  unhappy  gentleman  applied  unskilfully  an  arti- 
fice that  is  quite  legitiniate  m  Exposition.  He  sought 
to  create  a  vacuum  for  a  fact  that  he  proposed  to  pre- 
sent. He  knew  that  his  ren?ark  would  excite  a  certain 
amount  of  surprise  which  would  in  its  turn  lead  to  a 
curiosity  that  he  would  then  proceed  to  satisfy.  He 
had  not  calculated  on  surprise  passing  over  into  indigna- 
tion instead  of  mto  curiosity.  With  the  less  personal 
issues  raised  m  instructing  in  school  it  is  often  desir- 
able to  apply  this  principle  of  the  vacuum.  If  the 
teacher  can  create  the  desire  for  a  particular  bit  of 
knowledge,  he  is  on  the  way  to  the  best  possible  pres- 
entation of  that  knowledge.  The  following  example 
from  actual  teaching  illustrates  what  is  meant.  It  is 
taken  from  the  essay  of  one  of  my  students  at  the 
University  of  London:  — 

"I  was  teaching  a  class  to  scan  the  hexameter  line  in  Latin,  and 
after  teaching  the  divWon  of  the  Une  mto  mx  feet,  two  beats  in 
each  foot  made  by  either  dactyl  or  spondee,  and  the  invariable  na- 
ture of  the  fifth  and  sixth  feet,  I  put  up  some  lines  on  the  board  for 
us  to  work  out  together.  The  pupils  got  on  swimmingly  for  the 
first  line,  as  the  lengths  of  the  syllables  were  well  known  to  them. 
But  the  second  hne  was :  — 

'  Mutat  terra  vices,  et  decrescentia  ripas.' 

Working  backwards,  they  arrived  at  aU  the  feet  except  the  finst, 
and  there  they  stopped  m  difficuhy.  Only  two  syllables  were  left 
for  this  foot,  and  they  had  been  carefully  taught  that  the  third 
person  singular  present  indicative  of  the  four  conjugatioi^s  was  short. 
Was  the  foot  a  trochee  ?  That  was  the  time  for  the  explanation 
jf  'vowels  long  by  position,'  which  would  have  been  imperfectly 
comprehended  if  given  before  the  chiklien  had  found  the  diflkulty 
for  themselves." 

Leaving  to  specialists  the  decision  of  the  question 
whether  scansion  should  ever  be  taught  in  this  way, 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION 


217 


whether  in  direct  or  in  inverted  order,  it  is  necessary  to 
point  out,  what  the  student  herself  discovered  after 
sending  in  the  essay,  that  tlie  ippUcation  of  the  vacuum 
here  involved  the  fallacy  uf  assuming  that  the  pupils 
would  make  et  long  by  'K)Fition  in  i-rd^  to  get  into 
difficulties  r  ;  the  end  so  ■  f  be  led  to  enquire  into 
the  very  rule  that  they  had  already  applied.  The 
student's  reply  was  that  her  plan  worked:  she  desired 
to  get  the  pupils  into  this  difficulty,  and  she  succeeded. 
Obviously  the  excellence  of  the  plan  If  not  diminished 
by  the  fact  that  a  more  suitable  verse*  was  not  chosen. 

The  principle  of  the  vacuum  may  be  usefully  applied 
in  the  introduction  of  new  technical  terms.  If  at  the 
beginning  of  teaching  geometry  we  speak  a  great  deal 
about  "the  line  joining  the  opposite  angles  of  a  square," 
the  pupils  will  get  tired  of  the  cumbrous  phrase,  and 
when  the  term  diagonal  is  introduced,  will  welcome  it 
as  a  relief  from  the  wearisome  description.  In  science 
teaching,  the  principle  may  be  applied  by  giving  half  a 
dozen  applications  of  a  certain  rule,  e.g.  different  phe- 
nom^m  resulting  from  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere, 
without  enunciating  the  rule  till  the  last  application  is 
made.  By  this  time  the  pupils  want  to  know  what  is 
the  cause  of  the  peculiar  phenomena  they  have  seen, 
and  are  glad  to  have  such  an  economical  arrangement  as 
one  principle  (whether  given  by  the  teacher,  or,  better, 
discovered  by  theoaselves)  to  explain  half  a  6omi  re- 

» The  verae — 

"  Sdndit  w  nubM,  et  in  ctbem  purgat  apertiun  " 

would  have  led  to  the  desired  result,  and  would  have  had  the  addi- 
tional advantage  of  including  a  third  person  singular  (purgat)  that 
follows  the  usual  rule,  and  therefore  emphasises  the  difference  in 
teinUL 


218  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

markable  things  that  at  first  appear  altogether  different 

from  each  other. 

Sometimes  the  prmciple  is  more  dehberately  appUed 
A  certain  problem  is  stated,  and  various  more  or  less 
plausible  solutions  are  offered  one  after  the  c^er 
and  each  dismissed  in  turn  as  unsatisfactory.   But  all 
through  the  discussion  there  is  constant  reference  to  the 
true  theory.    Phrases  Uke  the  following  are  scattered 
throughout:  "as  we  shall  see  presently";  "when  we 
come  to  what  we  hold  to  be  the  true  theory";  "as  wiU 
be  e;ddent  in  the  light  of  the  theory  about  to  be  pre- 
sented;" "a  natural  mistake  in  a  writer  who  has  not 
the  mformation  that  is  about  to  be  laid  before  you." 
For  example,  the  lesson  may  be  on  those  curious  medal- 
lions that  the  antiquarians  of  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  caUed   contomiates.    The  un- 
skilled would  naturally  regard  them  as  coins.  People 
who  know  more  are  aware  that  this  is  not  so,  and  various 
theories  as  to  their  nature  have  been  held,  such  as 

[1)  amulets  to  bring  success  to  competitors  at  the  games; 

(2)  tickets  to  reserved  seats  at  the  games;  (3)  lots  to 
determine  the  starting  order  in  the  chariot  races: 
(4)  medals  mdicating  success  in  the  games.  Now  the 
teacher  starting  with  the  view  that  the  true  use  of 
contomiates  was  to  serve  as  "men"  in  certain  table 
games  resembUng  our  "draughts,"  keeps  this  in  view 
au  the  time  he  is  discussmg  the  other  theories,  and  takes 
every  opportunity  of  shadowing  it  forth  without  actu- 
ally stating  it.  While  pointing  out  all  the  difficulties  of 
the  other  theories,  he  refers  to  "the  better-supported" 
ttieory,  the  clue  is  to  be  found  in  M.  Froehener's 
bnlhant  suggestion," »  "before  what  we  believe  to  be 

dowirT^r  t  ^T^"*^'         p.  88 :  quoted  by  K.  A.  Mao- 


ORDEB  OF  PRESENTATION 


219 


the  true  solution  was  offoed."  By  the  time  the  Froe- 
hener  theory  is  actually  presented,  a  real  need  for  it  has 

been  created.  The  pupil  is  tired  of  indirect  suggestions, 
and  welcomes  the  positive    itement  of  the  final  theory. 

There  is  one  lunitation  to  the  application  of  the  prm- 
ciple  of  the  vacuum  in  Exposition.  The  pupil  should 
not  be  taught  anything  that  is  actually  false.  In  using 
contrast  and  in  preparing  a  vacuum,  error  is  introduced, 
no  doubt,  but  in  the  first  place  it  is  not  taught  as  truth, 
and  in  the  second  place,  the  error  is  only  relative.  It 
must  be  associated  with  a  certain  amount  of  truth 
before  it  can  have  any  value  in  a  process  that  seeks  to 
pass  from  apparent  truth  to  a  never  approach  to  ulti- 
mate truth.  There  has  to  be  reconstruction,  perhaps, 
but  the  original  construction  is  usually  correct  for  some 
other  set  of  circumstances,  though  unsuitable  for  the 
present.  There  can  be  no  justification  in  presenting 
matter  that  is,  so  far  as  we  know,  false  under  all  cir- 
cumstances. We  want  the  pupil  to  get  at  the  truth 
as  it  is  known  to  us,  and  though  we  may  find  it  desir- 
able to  contrast  his  view  of  truth  with  ours,  we  need 
never  present  actual  falsehood  to  him. 

We  must  distinguish  between  falsity  and  mere  in- 
completeness in  presentation.  "An  instrument  for 
telling  the  time"  is  an  incomplete,  but  not  a  false, 
definition  of  a  watch.  Many  teachers  are  willing  to  al- 
low an  incomplete  presentation  of  ordinary  terms,  but 
draw  the  line  when  technical  words  are  in  question. 
Dr.  T.  Percy  Nunn  is  frequently  challenged  by  his 
students  of  the  London  Day  Traming  C!ollege  (or  giving 
"wrong"  meanings  to  scientific  terms.  For  example, 
he  deliberately  calls  a  mass  of  peroxide  of  lead,  whatever 
its  size,  a  "molecule,"  and  when,  under  heat,  it  gives  up 


220  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


ju- '  the  amount  of  oxygen  to  enable  it  to  become  lith- 
arge, he  says  it  has  given  off  one  atom  of  oxygen,  and  is 
now  a  molecule  of  Utharge,  made  up  of  one  atom  of 
oxygen  and  one  atom  of  I.  ad.  This  scandalises  his 
young  men,  who  have  been  brought  up  in  the  beUef 
that  size  (or  rather  lack  of  size)  is  of  the  essence  of  mole- 
cules, and  particularly  of  atoms.  My  colleague  defends 
himself  by  maintaining  that  his  meanings  are  not 
wrong,  but  merely  incomplete.  He  believes  that  the 
quaUtative  approach  gives  the  students  a  much  better 
chance  of  getting  the  true  meaning  than  does  the  quanti- 
tative. In  the  ordinary  presentation  the  pupil  is  thrust 
into  the  middle  of  a  theory  before  he  realises  the  facts  of 
the  case.  In  very  many  instances  he  is  so  busy  whip- 
ping up  his  imagination  in  the  pursuit  of  the  incon- 
ceivably small  that  he  has  no  energy  or  interest  left  to 
attend  to  what,  after  all,  are  the  essentials  of  the  laws  of 
chemical  combination.  It  is  always  wise  to  begin  with 
the  proper  point  of  view  where  it  is  possible,  and  in 
this  case  it  is  not  only  possible  but  actually  easier  than 
what  may  not  unfairly  be  called  the  metaphysical 
approach. 

We  should  teach  by  good  example  rather  than  by  bad, 
by  showing  what  should  be  rather  than  by  showing  what 
should  not  be.  Positive  teaching  is  always  better  than 
negative.  The  "awful  example,"  as  it  is  called,  is  bad 
exposition  unless  under  conditions  in  which  there  is 
no  doubt  as  to  the  right  and  the  wrong.  To  write 
the  word  fdld  on  the  blackboard  and  enlarge  on  the 
heinousness  of  spelling  it  in  that  way  only  strengthens 
the  chances  of  that  form  of  the  word  reappearing  in  the 
pupils'  exercise  books.  There  is  no  self-interpreting 
standard  compared  with  which  feUd  will  stand  out  at 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION 


221 


inherently  bad.  In  certain  forms  of  symmetrical  free- 
hand drawing,  on  the  other  hand,  common  errors  made 
by  the  pupils  may  be  with  safety  placed  upon  the  black- 
board, since  their  very  juxtaposition  to  the  model  will  at 
once  condemn  them.  There  is  here  an  objective  stand- 
ard to  which  appeal  may  be  made  witJli  no  fear  of 
misunderstanding.  So  with  the  objectionable  para- 
graph on  pages  205-207  of  this  chapter.  It  carries  its 
own  condemnation  with  it. 

In  dealing  with  grammatical  errors  the  type  should 
be:  "The  correct  form  is  'Charles  and  his  cavaliers 
were  defeated.' "  The  emphasis  on  the  were  calls  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  this  is  correct,  without  recalling 
the  incorrect  was  of  the  exercise  book.  Even  in  a 
case  of  greater  difficulty,  where  there  might  be  room  for 
a  little  argument,  it  is  well  to  stick  to  the  positive  form. 
"Charies  with  his  cavaliers  toa«  defeated."  If  the  pupils 
themselves  raise  objections,  a  little  argument  may  be 
permitted,  but  even  then  the  repetition  should  always 
be  of  the  correct  form,  and  not  of  the  alternative 
were,  as  suggested  by  the  pupils.  Reiteration  of  the 
right  should  be  the  expositor's  principle  rather  than 
condemnation  of  the  wrong. 

Some  teachers  set  what  they  call  mistako-traps,  in 
order  to  illustrate  certain  forms  of  error.  The  condi- 
tions here  should  be  the  same  as  in  the  case  of  the  awful 
example.  Traps  shotdd  never  be  set  miless  there  is  an 
objective  standard  to  which  the  wrong  answer  may 
be  referred.  These  traps  are  Intimate  only  in  those 
cases  in  which  matters  can  be  so  arranged  that  not  only 
shall  the  expected  mistake  occur,  but  it  shall  bring  its 
own  condemnation  with  it  by  confronting  itself  with 
some  irreconcilable  ideas  Uiat  make  mvestigation  and 


222  BXPOSmON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

conaequent  reconstruction  inevitable.  It  may  be  con- 
ceded that  so  long  as  a  mistake-trap  leads  tlie  mis- 
take maker  to  perceive  and  rectify  his  mistake,  no  harm 
IS  done  But  it  is  at  the  best  a  dangerous  form  of  exei- 
cise,  and  when  used  should  always  be  followed  by  a  series 
of  exercises  leading  to  normal  results,  so  that  the  final 
impression  left  on  the  pupil's  mind  is  the  correct  one 

It  IS  a  favourite  charge  against  the  average  teacher 
that  he  IS  too  fond  of  rules.  But,  after  aU,  in  his  mind 
the  rule  occupies  only  the  second  place.  His  real  first 
love  18  the  exception.  All  his  professional  activities 
seem  to  centre  round  exceptions.  His  pupils,  indeed, 
acquire  from  the  teacher's  bias  a  distorted  view  of  the 
relative  values  of  rule  and  exception.  The  foUowinit 
dialogue  from  real  life  is  fuU  of  instruction:— 

fZ7'T  «^°»J°ation  paper  of  pupil  -  subject, 

l  ^  ^'^t  ^°;!  ^  the  plural 

of  gMraL   Don  t  you  know  that  nouns  in  ^  fonn  their  plural  in 

Pupil.  Yea,  sir,  but  I  thought  it  was  an  exception, 
reocjer.  But  what  made  you  think  it  was  an  exception? 
J^piL  Because  it  was  set  in  the  examination,  sir. 

To  the  same  effect  is  the  advice  given  by  the  Scotch 
Dommie  to  the  promising  pupU  whom  he  is  sending 
up  to  the  Scholarship  Competition  at  Edinbunth  Uni- 

versity:  — 

"When  in  doubt  mind  [remember]  that  practically 
cyerythmg  m  an  examinaiion  governs  the  subjunc- 
tive. * 

No  doubt  the  demands  of  examinations  have  had  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  the  unhealthy  prominence  given 
to  exceptions.    Examiners  who  are  more  anxious  to 
» Ian  Hay:  :  h»  Bight  Stuff,  p.  6. 


ORDER  OF  PRBBENTATION 


223 


show  what  a  candidate  does  not  know  than  to  find  out 
what  he  does,  have  naturally  a  warm  side  to  exceptions. 
But  the  teacher,  too,  is  not  without  guilt.  His  besetting 
virtue  is  accuracy,  and  he  cannot  bear  that  even  for  a 
time  his  pupil  should  be  told  something  that  will  not 
bear  the  fullest  investigation.  No  sooner  has  he  enun- 
ciated a  general  principle  than  some  wretched  excep- 
tion occurs  to  his  mind,  and  he  proceeds  with  indecent 
haste  to  modify  his  original  statement  by  indicating  in 
what  respect  it  comes  short  of  absolute  truth  as  known 
to  him.  Before  the  rule  has  time  to  be  established,  its 
authority  is  undermined.  The  old  Latin  grammars 
were  grossly  disloyal  to  their  rules.  In  a  couple  of  lines 
they  describe  the  behaviour  of  nine-tenths  of  the  words 
under  a  particular  eatery,  and  then  having  eased  their 
conscience  and  having  got  rid  of  the  herd  of  common- 
place words,  they  proceed  to  the  real  business  of  life  and 
wallow  in  exceptions.  The  exceptions  have,  of  course, 
a  place  in  teaching.  Fin  e  scholarship  is  determined, 
no  doubt,  just  by  the  accuracy  with  which  the  excep- 
tion is  treated.  But  in  a  procession,  mere  precedence 
does  not  determine  the  importance  of  the  people.  In 
some  processions  the  important  persons  come  first,  in 
others  last,  in  the  majority  the  important  place  is  some- 
where in  the  middle.  It  does  not,  therefore,  degrade  the 
exertion  to  say  that  its  place  is  at  the  tail  of  the  pro- 
cession. The  rule  must  be  thoroughly  well  established 
before  the  exception  can  come  into  being.  We  may  in 
certain  forms  of  teaching  pass  from  the  example  to  the 
rule.  But  we  cannot  pass  from  the  exception  to  the 
rule.  For  if  we  try  to  do  so,  what  happens  is  that  we  for 
the  time  being  erect  the  exceptkn  into  ft  mte,  imd  tiifiD 
bring  in  the  rule  as  an  exception. 


224  EXPOSITION  AM)  IIXOWBATIOM  Df  TEACHWO 

ci.'J^'thT'n.r'^K'''  presentation  is  first  of  all  to  enun- 
0  ate  the  rule,  then  to  support  it.  The  rule  may  be 
either  grven  as  in  deductive  te«hing.  or  workTfo^ 
as  m  mductive.  In  either  case  it  must  be  buttij^d 
"Pw.th  many  examples,  and  not  weakened  by^ 

Sv T  u  "  °'  ""'"'="™  '^'"'ing  the  rule 

.  r«aiy  bmlt  up  on  examples.  In  dedue.ive  teaching 
^.s,ushfiedbytheexample8«lduoed.  TheruleshoSd 
be  apphed  m  many  ways,  all  involving  normiU  exZ,l« 

dence  m  h.s  rule,  and  treats  it  as  a  part  of  the  nature 

^       "^""^  i-troduce  ^ 

exception  or  merely  permit  his  vigilance  in  editini 
examples  to  reUx,  ^  aHowan  exe5,tion  to  oceS 
the  ordinary  course  of  study.   Whether  the  exceoUon 

STA^nt"' "  introducSTthe 

ttT^^il    r  '°'r  °'  "'^  ^"'P"°"  ^'">""'i  ^  left  to 
the  pupil.   Unless  the  pupil  is  struck  by  the  exception 

™k  faiurr,?,  '^"'P'*^  '*<>''»  the 

told      th.    7«rticular  case,  he  is  in  a  podtion  to  be 

wUch  hetr  r  "r*""  °f  exceptions  for 
wnich  he  must  be  prepared.   It  will  be  notpH  tho*  ti,. 

pupirs  complaint  in  the  fi«t  instance  wiurotle  ^ 
Ind  oulMt  hT''  His  first  attitude  L 

me  part  of  some  one  or  other 

oId«  "T  T         "'P^-^'^'ly  »  dealing  with 

older  pupils,  when  it  may  be  permissible  to  introd-  ce 
nile  and  exception  together.  Ttus  is  especial  y  tme 
^en  the  rule  has  been  reached  by  an  ex«S.^ti„n  o7» 

tHMis  IS  Umited.  Suppose  the  pupU  has,  after  muS 


ORDER  OF  PRESENTATION 


225 


turning  up  of  the  dictionary,  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  most  German  substantives  that  are  dissyllabic 
and  that  end  in  e  are  feminine,  it  is  desirable  to  add 
on  the  spot  the  limitation  "not  denoting  members  of 
the  male  sex,"  and  to  give  the  exceptions  das  Auge, 
das  Ende,  and  das  Erbe.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ten 
German  substantives  row  ending  in  e  but  etymologi- 
caliy  ending  in  n  should  be  left  to  be  discovered,  as 
exceptions  to  this  rule,  and  as  examples  of  a  rule  of 
their  own. 

So  far  we  have  been  dealing  with  Exposition  as  it 

affects  the  individual  mind.  The  problem  is  to  some 
extent  complicated  when  we  treat  of  exposition  to  a 
class.  The  same  principles  of  presentation  must,  of 
course,  hold  in  both  cases,  but  they  may  have  to  be 
differently  applied.  To  begin  with,  when  there  are 
from  twenty  to  sixty  minds  to  be  considered  (and  in 
the  case  of  public  exposition  often  many  hundreds), 
it  is  clear  that  there  is  greater  diflGlculty  in  getting  at  the 
common  segment  of  mental  content.  In  the  case  of  a 
class  doing  ordinary  school  work  there  is  usually  much 
less  difficulty  on  this  score  than  one  might  expect. 
The  ground  has  already  been  prepared.  The  pupils 
are  of  approximately  the  same  age,  they  have  gone 
through  a  similar  course,  they  come  from  homes  that 
are  at  least  in  a  general  way  similar.  The  difficulty  in 
finding  common  ground  is  mainly  in  connection  with 
outside  matters,  and  is  felt  chiefly  in  introducing  more 
or  less  concrete  illustrations.  With  a  really  large  audi- 
ence the  expositor  must  adopt  the  purely  human  atti- 
tude. He  must  assume  in  his  hearers  only  the  most 
univ^sal  qualities  of  human  nature,  and  whatever  de- 
gree of  knowledge  his  acquaintance  with  the  circuii^ 


226  BXPOBIHON  AND  ILLUgTHATIOlf  IN  IIACHINO 

<rf  his  «idl«i«>  may  w^^^ 

as  a  miniTir)^|Tn  maawutU^ 

In  dealing  with  a  particular  mind,  we  may  MBnoMh 

It  on  one  particular  side  because  we  know™rt^?S 
n^rtacceesible.  Thevisualand  theaudile.t  ZJpt 
wouW  be  approached  in  a  different  way;  but  with  a  cC 
we  have  to  make  «,  appeal  thatwiU  meet  iJrn«r 
We  may  have  o  approach  a  aubject  from  «vmJ 
ent  pomt8  m  turn,  m  order  that  one  or  other  rfW 
approaches  may  appeal  to  the  different  memb«s^ 

from  five  different  points  of  view.  It  is  probable  that 
«.me  of  the  really  capable  pupihwffl  appSSl  the 

pemoua  to  aJ  t,    modes  of  approach.  These  zen» 
my  be  «rfely  r^ed  a.  mifif  for  dass  SS^cto 
»d  as  theyrequh^  individual  treatment  mayS, 
lected  m  our  present  consideration 

of  l*""'"  ">«  problem 

^Srthi^'^  ''^  if  object  is  not  In  itZ 
rtiffloult,  rt  becomes  veiy  tiresome  to  a  clever  bov  to 

mast^  It  at  the  first  exposition.  The  same  holds  of 
the  other  pupils  for  all  the  explanationTS^^St^ 
thqr  have  mastered  the  pomt  at  iiue.  TheSt^to 
LlTo^w  J^"*  with  ST^e^^ 

est  that  may  compensate  the  quicker  Dunih  f™.  it^ 

'"^  old'grourd.'^Th^ 
remembered  that  interest  does  not  arise  merelv  in^th! 
««w  or  merely  in  the  old,  but  in  the  new^ISd  sit^ 


ORDIR  OF  PRISDrTATIOlf 


227 


or  the  old  in  a  new  setting.  By  the  conditions  of  the 
case  the  five  presentations  are  made  from  different 
points  of  view,  and  therefore  ft '11  to  some  extent  at 
least  the  oonditicms  on  whidi  interest  depend.  But  in 
the  actual  process  of  teaching  it  is  poauble  to  introduce 
different  lines  of  interest.  The  quicker  pupils  may  be 
taken  into  the  teacher's  confidence  in  the  recapitula- 
tory presentations.  Questions  that  the  duller  pupils 
cannot  answer  because  they  have  not  yet  caught  the 
essential  point  may  be  answeied  by  the  quieker  pupils 
to  their  own  satisfaction  and  to  the  edification  of  the 
duller  pupils.  What  is  a  line  of  investigation  and 
discovery  for  the  duller  pupils  may  well  be  a  course  of 
practical  applications  for  those  who  have  mastered  the 
principles  at  the  firat  or  at  any  rate  at  one  of  the  earlier 


CHAPTER  DC 

Exemplification  AND  Analogy 

Naturally  lUustration  must  obierve  the  fundamen- 
tal principle  of  proceeding  from  the  known  to  the 
unknowii    We  must  approach  the  little  known  by 

nf  Tlin  ^^"^^y      ^ost  fundamental  mode 

of  lUustration  w  exemplification,  and  this  is  commoSy 

nri!n*  r      .""'^^      illustration  of  the  rule  by  tli 
^entation  of  examples.    It  would  seem  to  be  imph^ 
thw  form  o  Illustration  always  proceeds  deduc- 

pass  from  the  rule  to  the  example,  m  lUustration  it 
would  seem  that  we  are  reaUy  passing  from  the 

u'u"^^'-  two™example  iJ 

supposed  to  be  better  known  than  the  rule,  on  whic? 

as  a  matt«.  of  fact  It  casts  light.   When  we  say, 

second  and  tlurd  persons  simply  foretells:  I  wiU  ao 
tnsjn^ofallhesays.  He  will  cam  to  supper  to^Ht^ 
we  take  it  for  panted  that  the  person  wHTe^Ss 
to  knows  the  shades  of  meaning  of  will  in  the  two«^ 
Maples  as  a  mere  matter  of  experience  of  the  language, 
though  we  do  not  assum-  'uit  he  Imows  anything  abou 
the  grammatical  statement  of  the  fact. 

t        k  f  ^^'"P^^  "^^y  as  well  iUus- 

trated  by  the  rule  as  the  rule  by  the  example.  Every- 


EXEMPUFICATION  AND  ANALOGY 


229 


thing  depmds  upon  which  is  better  known  to  the  per- 
son we  are  dealing  with.  It  is  commoner,  no  doubt,  in 
ordinary  teaching  to  set  forth  a  general  rule  and  then 
follow  with  more  or  less  copious  examples.  But  it  is 
quite  as  vaidvl  to  explain  a  puzzling  inttMMft  h§  itfcp* 
ring  it  to  the  claw  to  whiefa  it  bdongi,  ia  alfcir  mwiiK  by 
referring  it  to  the  rule  of  which  it  is  an  exwnple.  When 
a  boy  on  the  classical  side  cannot  undeaitaBd  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  profaner  in  the  line, 

"Where  no  pnUmt  eye  aay  look," 

the  master  may  make  mattera  quite  clear  by  merely 
uttering  the  words  "Latin  comparative.'*  '^^lat  he 
has  done  is  to  refer  this  troublesome  examp.  v  rule 
that  he  knows  is  familiar  to  the  pupil.  When  a  leas 
experienced  docUa  cdls  in  a  naoie  expiitiwwed  one  to 
diagnose  a  difficult  case,  owe  mention  of  the  <fia- 
ease  by  the  older  practitioner  settles  the  matter  by 
referring  the  case  to  the  rule  of  which  it  is  an  example. 
Every  time  that  the  teacher  suggests  the  particular 
geometrical  proposition  that  will  solve  a  "rider,"  he  is 
really  illustrating  tie  example  by  ib»  rule. 

When  we  are  told  in  the  dictionary  thai  Illustration 
means  explaining  or  exemplifying  as  by  means  of  figures, 
comparisons,  and  examples,  it  would  seem  that  we  have 
a  twofold  classification  of  the  materials  of  Illustration. 
Or  the  one  hand  Ume  am  ocnniMuru(H»  implying  like- 
ness .  nd  unlikeoess,  taiA  on  ^  other  there  are  meve 
examples  that  owe  their  power  as  illustrations  to  the 
fact  that  they  show  some  rule  in  operation.  But 
after  all,  the  very  fact  that  the  different  examples  illus- 
trate the  same  rule  proves  that  they  have  sometlmig 
in  common,  and  tiiat  therefore  ikib  idea  of  resMaablance 


230  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

is  present  in  them  also.  Aristotle  distinguishes  be- 
tween them,  calling  reasoning  by  example  paradigm 
and  reasoning  by  resemblance  analogy.  In  paradigm 
we  reason  from  one  example  to  another;  but  in  analogy 
we  reason  from  a  more  clearly  stated  resemblance. 
With  Aristotle  analogy  is  treated  as  equivalent  to 
mathematical  proportion,  which  involves  the  equality 
of  ratios. 

Our  whole  experience  is  intelligible  only  on  the  as- 
sumption that  the  operations  of  mind  and  matter  are 
regulated  according  to  cortain  laws  that  act  uniformly. 
The  law  remains  the  same  though  the  cases  of  its  appli- 
cation vary  as  to  what  may  be  called  content.  When 
ther^ore  we  find  a  particular  law  acting  in  connection 
with  one  content  we  assume  that  the  same  law  will 
hold  under  similar  conditions  in  connection  with  another 
content.  The  selection  of  the  common  element  from 
two  disparate  cases  is  *  naturally  very  difficult.  For  pur- 
poses of  illustration,  therefore,  it  is  well  to  adopt  the 
Aristotelian  view  of  analogy  as  limited  to  the  equaUty 
of  ratios.  This  enables  us  to  express  all  illustrative 
analogies  in  mathematical  terms,  as  thus,  a:h::c : d. 
Now  if  a  has  the  same  relation  to  6  that  c  has  to  d,  and 
the  pupil  knows  eitk&r  the  relation  that  a  has  to  6  or  the 
relation  that  c  has  to  d,  the  teacher  is  in  a  position  to 
illustrate  the  unknown  relation  by  ^  reference  to  the 
known.  In  the  case  in  which  the  pui»l  knows  both  of 
the  relations,  the  teacher  is  still  able  to  use  the  analogy 
as  an  illustration,  but  in  this  case  the  purpose  will  be 

>  Cf.  F.  H.  Bradley:  "The  real  wdom  ^  klaitity  fa  What  U 
tnu  in  one  eonUxt  i$  trvt  in  another ;  or,  If  any  truth  fa  stated  so  that  a 
change  in  events  will  make  it  false,  then  it  fa  not  a  genuine  truth  at 
ail." — The  PrineipUe  qf  Logic,  p.  138. 


EXEMPUFIOATION  AND  ANALOGY  231 


rather  the  aesthetic  satisfaction  of  the  pupil  than  the 
clarifying  of  his  ideas. 

In  ordinary  life  all  that  great  series  of  shorthand 
thinking  that  is  roproacnted  by  proverbial  philosophy 
is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  nwtaphor  does 
carry  a  certam  amount  of  weight  as  argument.  "You 
cannot  make  a  silk  purse  out  of  a  sow's  ear"  may  have 
no  direct  connection  with  the  case  of  the  nobleman 
who  marries  his  kitehenmaid;  but  the  plain  man  is 
satisfied  that  when  he  has  quoted  the  proverb  he  has 
said  something  to  the  point  in  this  connection.  He 
feels  that  he  has  at  least  made  matters  clearer,  has 
thrown  light  upon  the  subject,  has  illustrated  it. 

As  metaphor  by  its  very  nature  deals  entirely  with 
relatioixs,  it  is  obvioudy  oS  the  first  importaiuse  in 
Illustration.  It  is,  in  fact,  in  all  cases  an  instance  of 
Aristotelian  analogy.  The  proverb  may  be  represented 
in  purely  mathematical  form:  — 

sow's  ear :  silk  purse : :  Idtchenmaid :  noblewoman. 

The  implication  is  tiiat  the  relation  between  the  sow's 

ear  and  the  silk  purse  is  the  same  as  that  between  the 
kitehenmaid  and  the  noblewoman ;  that  is,  that  the 
one  cannot  be  turned  into  the  other.  As  an  argument, 
this  metaphor  is  unsatisfactory,  and  as  an  illustration 
its  value  is  mainly  msthetie.  It  pves  mtisfaeticm  by 
stating  in  a  very  efifective  way  what  a  great  many  peo- 
ple believe  to  be  true.  In  this  case  it  is  assumed  that 
we  know  both  terms  of  the  analogy,  but  in  most  cases 
of  what  may  be  called  illustrative  metaphors  in  teach- 
ing, one  pair  oi  tmns  is  assumed  to  be  better  known 
than  the  other.  We  have  seen  that  it  does  not  matter 
which  pair  is  known,  the  only  important  pdnt  being 


232  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHINa 

that  one  pair  must  be  better  known  than  the  other. 
When  we  speak  of  bang  better  known,  it  should  be  un- 
derstood that  we  are  referring  to  knowledge  of  the  rela- 
tion. For  a  metaphor  to  have  any  illustrative  value  at 
all,  the  pupil  must  know  all  fo'ir  terms  as  terms,  though 
the  true  relation  between  one  of  the  pairs  may  not 
be  known  by  hun.  Naturally  the  less  known  relation 
must  take  its  place  as  the  illustrandum.  There  is  this 
further  point,  that  the  person  using  the  illustration  is 
supposed  to  know  the  relationship  between  the  terms 
in  both  parts  of  the  metaphor,  and  ij  vouch  for  the 
resemblance  of  those  ratios.  As  a  methrd  of  discovery, 
analogy  may  not  always  be  quite  reliable,  but  as  a 
means  of  illustration  there  is  no  justificatbn  for  its 
ever  misleading,  so  long  as  it  is  skilfully  used.  The 
source  of  error  in  teaching  is  quite  differ^t  from  that 
in  discovery. 

An  illustrative  analogy  that  nrJsleads  usually  does  so 
through  a  process  of  spreading  that  is  characteristic  of 
all  untrained  minds.  It  is  not  enough  that  the  relation 
between  the  two  terms  m  the  first  branch  of  the  anal- 
ogy is  identical  with  that  between  the  two  terms  in  the 
second:  this  relation  must  be  kept  within  the  bounds 
of  the  particular  analogy.  The  tendency  of  the  mmd 
is  to  supply  a  great  many  subordinate  analc^es,  and 
to  hold  them  as  of  equal  importance  with  the  originaL 
In  other  words,  the  illustrative  analogy  is  really  an 
abstraction  which  the  ordinary  mind  tends  to  make 
concrete  by  addmg  on  a  great  number  of  quaUties  to 
each  pair  of  terms,  and  insisting  that  a  series  of  paralld 
analogies  shall  hold  between  the  different  pairs.  Thai 
Professor  James's  figure  of  the  stream  of  consciousness 
has  been  condemned  because  our  thoughts  do  not  pass 


EXEMPLIFICATION  AND  ANALOGY 


233 


once  for  all  through  the  mind,  and  never  come  back. 
The  critic  would  substitute  the  figure  of  a  cistern,  be- 
cause the  mind  is  rather  a  reservoir  from  which  old 
thoughts  can  be  drawn  at  will.  Obvioualy  the  cistern- 
figure  may  be  condemned  in  its  tiim,  on  the  ground  that 
our  thoughts  do  not  stagnate  like  the  water  in  a  cistern: 
while  the  ideas  that  we  draw  from  the  mind  we  do  not 
throw  away  forever  after  using  as  we  do  with  the  water 
we  have  drawn  from  a  cistern.  An  illustration  should 
be  a  perfect  vaalogy  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  must  be 
limited  to  the  relations  that  give  it  meaning.  James's 
figure  was  introduced  to  illustrate  the  fact  that  the 
contents  of  consciousness  have  bulk:  our  ideas  do 
not  form  mere  series,  but  rather  masses.  This  is  well 
brought  out  by  the  figure  of  the  rivor  (James,  in  fact, 
goM  the  length  of  giving  an  illustrative  section*  of  the 
stream),  but  to  carry  over  the  details  iu  to  court  error. 
One  might  as  well  object  that  our  ideas  are  not  wet,  as 
they  would  necessarily  be  if  they  formed  part  of  a  river. 

The  case  has  been  epigrammatically  put :  "  If  a  meta- 
ph(nr  will  go  wiUi  you  a  mile,  do  not  compel  it  to  go  with 
you  twain." 

No  doubt  very  elaborate  analogies  are  sometimes 
used,  and  worked  out  in  much  detail.  Our  great  alle- 
gories, for  instance,  give  many  excellent  examples  of 
analogy  skilfully  maintained  for  long  stretches  at  a 
time.  But  in  all  such  cases  sotmer  or  later  the  analogy 
breaks  down,  and  gives  an  opportunity  for  the  critic 
to  find  serious  fault.  It  is  here  that  the  deliberately 
constructed  illustrative  story  or  parable  calls  for  criti- 
cism. Such  stories  as  Professor  Drummond's  Baxter's 
Second  Innings  have  to  be  judged  from  two  dififw«it 
» PHmapUt  tj  PjyeMtjit.  Vol.  I,  p.  379. 


234  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

Standpoints:  first  as  works  of  art,  secondly  as  more  or 
less  consistent  analogies,  with  a  moral  purpose.* 

Teaching  by  metaphor,  in  spite  of  Aristotle's  praise  of 
that  figure,"  has  its  dangers  and  must  be  confined  to  the 
essentials  of  the  relationship  to  be  iUustrated;  and  in 
order  to  keep  one  metaphor  within  its  proper  bounds 
It  IS  desirable  that  it  should  be  balanced  by  other  meta- 
phors.   The  relation  between  mind  and  mental  content 
may  be  illustrated  by  reference  to  a  river,  a  well  a 
reservoir,  a  kaleidoscope,  a  blank  sheet  of  note-paper,  a 
stage,  a  dome,  a  photographer's  plate.   Each  figure  as 
It  is  used  is  corrected  by  the  others,  and  only  the  reaUy 
essential  relationship  is  left  in  the  reader's  mind.  Each 
of  the  figures  marks  a  certain  aspect  of  the  truth,  but 
while  each  emphasises  its  own  aspect  it  tends  to  restrict 
the  appUcation  of  aU  the  others  to  their  own  proper 
place.   The  common  elements  in  all  the  figures  fuse, 
while  the  peculiarities  of  each  are  arrested  by  the 
peculiarities  of  the  others. 

This  advance  by  means  of  fusion  and  arrest  is  often 
applied  in  dealing  with  ordinary  school  subjects.  The 
symmetry  of  many  algebraic  results  is  thus  made  pat- 
ent to  the  pupil  without  the  direct  mtervention  of  the 
teacher.  The  familiar  formula  (a+by  =  a" +  2ab  +  b' 
may  be  insinuated  into  the  pupil's  mind  by  a  series 
of  actual  multiplications,  the  letters  being  changed 
in  each  case.  The  purely  general  character  of  the  re- 
sult soon  becomes  clear,  and  the  pupil  sees  that  it  is 

«  This  subject  receives  fuller  treatment  in  Chi^ter  X. 

»  "But  the  greatest  thing  by  far  is  to  have  a  command  of  meta- 
pnor.  This  alone  cannot  be  imparted  by  another;  it  is  the  mark  of 
genius, —  for  to  make  good  metaphors  implies  an  eye  for  raeem- 
l>l««»."-P«rt<«,  Vol.  XXII,  p.  9;  S.  H.  Butcher*.  ttmndatloD. 


EXEMPUFICATION  AND  ANALOGY 


235 


unnecessary  to  do  the  actual  multiplication  in  order 
to  reach  the  desired  result.  Hie  aiuJ<^  forees  itself 

upon  his  notice. 

In  order  that  a  metaphor  may  have  its  full  value  as  an 
illustration,  the  analogy  must  be  completely  presented 
to  the  mind;  i.e.  both  pairs  of  terms  must  be  given  at 
the  same  time.  Even  if  each  pair  is  familiar  to  the 
mind  dealt  with,  they  must  be  presented  together  in 
order  that  they  may  produce  their  proper  effect. 
Unless  this  is  done,  the  metaphor  presents  itself  not  as 
an  illustration  but  as  a  problem.  This  becomes  clear 
if  we  take  0£e  or  two  examples  of  the  illustration  with- 
out indicating  the  illustrandum:  — 

"He  clasps  the  crag  with  crooked  hands; 
Close  to  the  sun  in  lonely  lands, 
Bing'd  with  the  azure  world  he  stands. 
The  wrinkled  sea  beneath  him  crawls ; 
He  watches  from  his  mountain  waU^ 
And  like  a  thunderbolt  he  falb.' " 

Till  we  are  told  that  Tennjrson  is  here  dealing  with  the 

eagle,  we  experience  a  sense  of  discomfit.  The  natural 
eff'  ^t  of  the  personal  pronoun  is  to  suggest  a  human 
background  for  the  presented  ideas,  and  we  find  it  diflS- 
cult  to  make  a  picture  that  will  satisfy  us  by  combining 
m  a  reasonable  way  all  the  materials  supplied.  So  soon, 
however,  as  we  get  the  key  to  the  problem,  we  find  a 
great  deal  of  pleasure  in  tracing  out  the  parallelism. 
Given  a  relation,  it  is  not  very  difl&cult  to  find  a  parallel 
that  will  illustrate  this  relation.'  But  given  an  illustra- 

'  A  Fragment,  Tennyson's  Works,  1883,  p.  134. 

*  Jean  Paul  Richter  appears  to  take  a  different  view  in  the  following 
passage  from  the  Vorachule  der  /Esthetik,  Programm  IX,  Section  60:  — 
"Geht  ein  Dichter  durch  ein  reifes  Komfeld  q^asieren:  so  weiden 


236  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACBINa 


tion,  it  may  be  almost  impoadble  to  find  the  original 
relation  which  is  to  be  illustrated,  though  when  the 
relation  is  discovered,  the  beauty  of  the  comparison 
may  be  easily  appreciated.  The  mental  process  is  dif- 
ferent in  the  two  cases.  In  appreciating  the  compari- 
son we  are  dealii^  with  perception  and  apperception: 
in  seeking  for  the  relation  that  is  illustrated,  we  are 
dealing  with  discovery.  In  the  first  case  we  have  to  fol- 
low a  lead  that  is  given:  in  the  second  we  have  to  pass 
from  an  effect  to  a  cause,  where  many  causes  may  lead 
to  the  same  effect,  and  yet  only  one  cause  will  meet  the 
case  in  point.  Take  the  following  example  of  a  series 
of  metaphors  referring  to  an  historical  character:  — 

"Hiat  grand  impostor,  that  loathsome  hypocrite,  that  detest- 
able monster,  that  prodigy  of  the  imiverse,  that  disgrace  of  man- 
Idnd,  that  landscape  of  miquity,  that  sink  of  sin,  and  that  com- 
pendium of  baseness  —  " 

This  has  the  air  of  being  a  comparatively  easy  case. 
It  would  appear  that  from  the  superlative  nature  of 
the  figures  used  there  could  hardly  be  two  men  in  the 

ihn  die  aufrechten  und  kfimer-armen  JEbieu  leicht  su  dem  Gleichnias 
Iwben,  daas  rich  der  leere  Kopf  eben  so  aufrichte  .  .  .  aber  er  wird 
einige  MOhe  haben,  fttr  denselben  Gedanken  eines  zugleich  unbedeu- 
tenden  und  doch  stolzen  Menschen  in  den  un&bsehlichen  Ettrper- 
Reihen  auf  den  Schieferabdruck  ieaet  Bhime  su  treffen."  But  every- 
thing depends  upon  the  state  of  the  mental  content  of  the  person 
concerned.  If  the  teacher  asks  a  class  what  the  haughtily  upright 
but  poorly  filled  ears  of  com  make  one  think  of,  it  is  quite  likely  that 
he  will  get  several  pupils  to  suggest  empty-headed,  pompous  people, 
but  by  emphasising  the  two  qualities  of  emptiness  and  stiffness  he 
has  really  suggested  the  comparison.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  asks 
a  class  to  find  an  illustration  among  plants  of  an  insignificant  but  pom- 
pous person,  not  many  of  his  piqdis  would  suggest  eom  at  aQ,  but 
there  would  be  little  lack  of  quite  aaftable  compaiisemi  wHh  other 
plants,  mainly  flowers. 


EXEMPLIFICATION  AND  ANALOGY  237 


world  who  could  fill  the  part.  Yet  if  this  description  is 
proposed  to  a  class  of  senior  pupils  as  a  problem,  it  is 
astonishing  how  many  fairly  intelligent  attempts  may 
be  made  without  any  pupil  hitting  upon  the  truth. 
King  John  is  often  selected ;  Nero  is  a  favourite  sugges- 
tion; and  Judas  Iscariot  may  by  many  be  regarded  as 
a  better  answer  than  the  real  one.  We  require  the 
further  hint  that  the  words  are  those  of  the  stout  old 
cavalier,  Sir  Henry  Lee,^  before  we  can  apply  them  to 
Oliver  Cromwell. 

As  soon  as  we  have  found  the  key,  we  see  how  true  the 
comparison  is  —  from  Sir  Henry's  point  of  view.  But 
in  the  following  example,  from  one  of  Charles  Lamb's 
essays,  we  have  a  series  of  epithets  that  are  in  most  cases 
wondeorfully  apposite.  When  we  know  the  subject  re- 
ferred to,  we  admit  that  at  least  twraty  of  the  twenty- 
seven  metaphors  are  admirably  suited  to  illustrate  that 
subject.  Yet  after  reading  these  twenty-seven  illumi- 
nating metaphors  without  being  told  the  subject,  most 
readers  find  it  impossible  to  discover  what  they  all  refer 
to.  That  is  to  say  that  a  f^ym  rdation  is  illustrated 
by  twenty-seven  parallels — of  which  at  least  twenty 
are  excellent  —  without  making  it  possible  for  the 
average  man  to  find  out  what  that  relation  is.  The 
reader  probably  remembers  the  essay  in  question,  but 
he  cannot  do  better  than  try  the  aq>eriment  of  reading 
to  his  most  intelligent  friends  (or  to  a  class,  if  one  k 
available)  the  following  description,  and  asking  them  to 
say  what  is  the  subject  of  the  first  is:  — 

"  is  the  most  irrelevant  thing  in  nature  —  a  piece  of  im- 
pertinent correspondency  —  an  odious  approximation  —  a  haunting 
conaeioice — •  jffqxMrtaoiH  aludow,  leagtimiing  in  Um  iionitlde  of 


238  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

our  prosperity  —  an  unwelcome  remembrancer  —  a  perpetually 
recurring  mortification  —  a  drain  on  your  purse,  a  more  intolerable 
dun  UTpoa  your  pride  —  a  drawback  upon  sucoess  —  a  rebuke  to  your 
rising  — a  stain  in  your  blood  — a  blot  on  your  'scutcheon  — a  rent 
in  your  garment  —  a  death's  head  at  your  banquet  —  Agathocles ' 
pot — »  M<»decai  in  your  gate,  a  Lasanu  at  your  door  —  a  lion  in 
your  path  —  a  frog  in  your  chamber  —  a  fly  in  your  ointment  —  a 
mote  in  your  eye  —  a  triumph  to  your  enemy,  an  apology  to  your 
friends  — the  one  thing  not  needful  — the  hail  in  harvest  — the 
ounce  of  lour  in  a  pound  of  sweet." 

In  spite  of  the  cumulative  ^ect  of  twentyHseven 
broad  hints,  you  will  almost  c^tunly  find  that  your 

friends  or  pupils  fail  to  arrive  at  the  true  subject. 
This  looks  as  if  Lamb's  ingenious  series  of  metaphors 
was  of  little  value  in  illustrating  his  subject.  Yet  the 
moment  the  reader  or  hearer  knows  that  this  subject  is 
A  Poor  ReUUum,  he  finds  that  every  one  of  the  epithets 
does  something  towards  clearing  up  his  ideas  on  the 
subject.  The  process  of  selecting  from  each  of  these 
figures  the  element  that  is  conmion  to  all  —  the  fun- 
damental relationship — is  of  the  utmost  service  in 
throwing  lig^t  upon  the  relationship. 

In  his  essay,  Lamb  mercifully  begins  with  the  subject, 
so  that  his  epithets  are  read  with  pleasurable  interest. 
Sometimes,  however,  a  writer,  but  more  frequently  a 
speaker,  deliberately  uses  a  suppressed  subject  in  order 
to  eihance  the  interest  of  his  words.  This  is  obviously 
a  special  application  of  the  principle  of  the  vacuum,  and 
if  skilfully  applied,  the  method  is  quite  justifiable.  It 
is  a  challenge  from  the  speaker  to  his  hearers,  and  a 
great  part-  of  the  charm  of  the  problem  is  the  activity 
it  encourages  within  narrow  limits.  As  a  problem  it 
should  be  presented  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  be  so  diflS- 
cult  as  the  passage  from  Lamb  would  be,  if  uttered  in 


EXEMPLIFICATION  AND  ANALOGY  230 


its  present  f onn  before  an  audience.  It  must  be  possible 
for  the  abler  among  the  audience  to  solve  the  problem 
before  the  passage  is  completed.  More  or  less  broad 
hints  should  be  given  throughout,  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  should  also  supply  a  certain  guidance. 
It  will  be  readily  admitted  that  these  hints  have  a  ten- 
dency to  help  each  other,  so  that  their  influence  is 
cumulative,  as  in  the  parlor  game  of  "Lights"  in  which 
two  persons  begin  talking  round  some  subject  that  is 
not  revealed  to  the  rest  of  the  company.  The  subject 
is  never  mentioned  by  name,  but  each  person  who  thinks 
he  has  guessed  it,  from  what  he  has  heard  of  the  con- 
versation, joins  in  and  tests  by  the  rdevancy  of  his 
remarks  whether  his  guess  is  right  or  wrong.  Obviously 
the  longer  the  conversation  lasts  the  greater  the  chance 
of  the  auditors  to  discover  the  subject,  but  all  the  time 
their  wits  must  be  actively  employed  if  they  hope  for 
success. 

An  excellent  example  of  this  form  of  illustrative 
teaching  is  supplied  by  an  address  given  by  Dr.  William 
Osier  to  medical  students.  The  reader  should  experi- 
ment with  himself,  and  note  the  exact  point  at  which  he 
guesses  the  word,  and  the  point  at  which  he  is  sure  that 
his  guess  is  right.  In  order  to  prevent  the  possibility 
of  the  reader's  eye  catching  the  actual  word,  it  is  repre- 
sented by  a  dash  in  the  text,  but  is  given  in  a  footnote 
that  will  be  found  when  the  page  is  turned: 

THE  MASTER-WORD 

"It  seems  a  bounden  duty  on  gooh  an  occasion  to  be  honest  and 

frank,  so  I  propose  to  tell  you  the  secret  of  life  as  I  have  seen  the 
game  played,  and  as  I  have  tried  to  play  it  myself.   You  remember 


240  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEAOHINQ 


in  one  of  the  Jungle  Storiet  that  when  Mowgli  wished  to  be  avenged 
on  the  villagers,  he  could  only  get  the  help  of  Hathi  and  hia  aons  by 
■ending  them  the  maitavwofd.  Thia  I  propoae  to  give  you  in  the 
hope,  yes,  in  the  full  assurance,  that  some  of  you  at  least  will  lay 
bold  upon  it  to  your  profit.  Though  a  little  one,  the  noaster-word 
looms  large  in  meaning.  It  is  the  open-sesame  to  every  portal,  the 
great  equaliser  in  the  world,  the  true  philosopher's  stone,  which 
transmutes  all  the  base  metal  cf  humanity  into  gold.  The  stupid 
man  among  you  it  will  make  bright,  the  bright  man  brilliant,  and 
the  briUiant  student  steady.  With  the  ma|^o  word  in  your  heart 
all  things  are  possible,  and  without  it  all  study  is  vanity  and  vexa- 
tion. The  miracles  of  life  are  with  it ;  the  blind  see  by  touch,  the 
deaf  hear  with  eyes,  and  the  dunbspeaJc  with  fiogen.  Totheyouth 
it  brings  hope,  to  the  middle-aged,  confidence,  to  the  aged,  repose. 
True  balm  of  hurt  minds,  in  its  presence  the  heart  of  the  sorrowful 
is  lif^tened  and  consoled.  It  is  directly  responsible  for  all  advanoes 
in  medicine  during  the  past  twenty-five  centuries.  Laying  hold 
upon  it,  Hippocrates  made  observation  and  science  the  warp  and 
woof  of  our  art.  Qalen  so  read  its  meaning  that  fifteen  centuries 
stopped  thinking  and  slept,  till  awakened  by  the  'De  Fabrica' 
of  Vesalius,  which  is  the  very  incarnation  of  the  master-word. 
With  its  inspiration  Harvey  gave  an  impulse  to  a  larger  circulation 
than  he  wot  of,  an  impulse  which  we  feel  to-day.  Hunter  sounded 
all  its  heights  and  depths,  and  stands  out  in  our  history  as  one  of 
the  great  exemplars  of  its  virtue.  .  .  .  Not  only  has  it  been  the 
touchstone  of  progress,  but  it  is  the  measure  <rf  success  in  everyday 
life.  Not  a  man  before  you  but  is  beholden  to  it  for  his  position  here, 
while  he  who  addresses  you  has  that  honour  directly  in  consequence  of 
having  had  it  graven  on  his  heart  ^en  he  was  as  you  are  to-day. 
And  the  master-word  is  — ,  a  little  one,  as  I  have  said,  but  fraught 
with  momentous  sequences,  if  you  can  but  write  it  on  the  tablets  of 
yaar  hearts,  and  bind  it  upon  your  foreheads."  * 

These  one-sided  metaphors  illustrate  clearly  what 
Aristotle  means  when,  after  praising  the  use  of  meta- 
phors as  indicating  high  intelligence,  he  goes  on  to  say 
that  as  a  st^^e  made  up  ratirely  of  strange  or  rare  words 

*  JSgmiiimUaB  tmd  OA$r  Addmm,  p.  378. 


EXEMPUFICATION  AND  ANALOGY 


241 


is  ft  jftTfon,  so  a  styte  madt  up  oitiitlsr  of  metaphon 
beo<»BM  ft  riddle. 

"  For  the  essence  of  a  riddle  is  to  express  true  facts  under  impos- 
sible combinations.  Now  this  cannot  be  done  by  any  arranfemant 
of  ordinary  words,  but  by  the  use  of  metaphor  it  can." ' 

There  arises  here  an  interesting  application  of  the 
principles  of  the  order  of  presentation.  It  is  clearly 
important  for  the  illustrator  to  determine  whether  1m 
ou^t  to  begin  with  the  illustrftUon  or  the  Ulustnuidum. 
Logically,  the  main  idea  should  come  first  and  the  illus- 
trative matter  should  follow.  But  it  is  interesting  to 
observe  that  in  actual  practice  the  poets  are  rather 
fond  of  invertmg  this  order.  "  As  "  is  the  natural  begin- 
ning of  a  poetical  eompariaon,  uid  tiie  illustrandum  te 
generally  hdd  back  till  the  correlative  "so"  introduces 
it.  We  are  sometimes  told  that  in  the  poet's  own  think- 
.ng  the  process  is  reversed,  but  it  is  very  probable  that 
in  the  case  of  our  finer  poets  the  figure  frequently 
precedes  in  thought  as  it  precedes  in  racpreesion.*  In 
any  case  it  suits  the  poet's  purpose  to  put  the  figure  in 
the  foreground,  when  he  is  maldng  his  i»eiaitfttbn: — 

"Thus  presented,  it  gives  more  cohesion  to  the  poetJp  period, 
rouses  curiosity,  holds  it  b  su^ieDse  to  the  end;  one  must  get  to 

«  PoeHes,  XXII,  2. 

'  The  account  of  the  manulac+ur^  of  The  Raven  in  E.  A.  Poe's 
fascinating  essay  on  The  PhUoa*.^''  ^4  Compoaition  must  be  taken 
with  some  caution.  No  doubt  some  poems  have  been  built  up  in  this 
way.  But  they  are  not  of  very  high  rank.  The  essay  is  full  of  value 
for  the  didactic  illustrator,  but  is  of  little  use  to  the  poet.  Poe  has 
the  didactic  instinct  very  strongly  developed.  Probably  he  was  not 
thinkingof  himself  when  he  wrote:  "It  to  the  eunwof  a  certain  order 
of  mind  that  it  can  never  r^st  satisfied  with  the  consciousness  of  its 
ability  to  do  a  thing.  Not  even  is  it  content  with  doing  it.  It  must 
both  know  and  show  how  it  was  &»e."  If  if  XLVII. 


342  EXFOSmtm  AMD  ILLUmUTlQir  Ul  TEACHING 

■  ^1:^      P«*Hl  fa  order  to  underrtand  if  meaning; 

fa  phce  of  whwh.  rf  Me  pnmito  the  principd  idea  at  fiwt.  SSe 
%ure  coming  ftfterwMda,  not  bring expeelKl, l»v« tht  ai^of 

» mere  after-tliought  J."  * 

It  is  clear  that  wo  are  here  deaUng  with  the  esthetio 
use  of  Uluatration.    i>ut  vhen  we  come  to  the  didactic 
uae,  we  murt  bring  the  illuotrandum  into  the  first  rank. 
Here  the  purpoee  is  not  mere  enjoyment,  but  o'  ar 
thmking  ;  not  a  conundrum,  but  aa  a^oiiltaii  Ttt 
he  knows  what  is  ).eing  illustrate,  the  pupil  cai^ot 
understand  the  illustration  as  illustration.  Accordingly 
he  IS  exposed  to  aU  the  temptations  lo  set  up  premature 
oo«>5tioiis,Mid  wiU  thue  have  to  do  over  again  all  his 
tliiniaBg,M8poniihefaiitl»i«apoiiit«»iam^  This 
18  precisely  what  we  have  seen  in  the  previow  <^M>ter 
18  to  be  specially  avoided.    No  doubt  in  the  procev 
of  discovery  and  invention  we  are  frequently  thrown 
out  of  ma  reckoning,  and  have  to  rethink  our  thoi  ights. 
But  when  we  are  being  tau^t  in  tl»  sense  of  having 
something  expounded  to  us,  we  have  a  ligl^  fto  expect 
that  we  shall  not  be  mialed  by  tlw  persoa  who  profc 
to  be  our  guide. 


In  teaching,  it  may  be  desirable  as  i  general  nile  to 
I»«  from  particular  cases  to  general  conclusions  or  prin- 
ciples. But  th«e  are  cases  mwhksh  it  is  better  to  start 
with  a  clear  statement  of  the  pmMe  and  then  proceed 
to  Illustrate  it.  An  exceUeiit  example  of  the  clear  state- 
ment  of  a  principle  followed  by  a  very  in?enioti«  illus- 
toation  18  to  be  found  in  Part  III  of  Dc  Quincey's 
^s^at/  on  Star^iq;  ^  ^^.^^ 

he  finds  m  Paterculus  that  there  is  a  teotecy  of  intei- 
lectual  power  to  gather  in  ekat^,  he  mttmm  this 

•  Paul  Souriau:  Ik  ffupufai.  Aw  p. 


IXBHPLU  iCATIOW  AWD  A^KWOY  243 


summarily  b  eferring  i  o  the  three  great  periods  in  Ei 
lish  litiTaturo:  the  El  ',abeHi  ,a,  the  Queen  Anne,  and 
the  period  b^pnning  with  ^jor ;  and  then  {uroceedb 
to  give  om  of  the  oioet  i^if^Muoyriy  mu^iHilAted  iUtut- 
trftdons  to  be  found  •nywhn'a.  The  two  craftt  ikuUn 
ai  Greo'-  ^  nteUect  cen  re  tac  round  one  man ;  the  fint 
round  P<  icles,  ho  sec  Iroi  i  s^xa  ^fMacedon. 
"Ol  goou  r  a  ,  H'  'le(  inr  M  ^hi  place,"  he  tells 
us  ti  iit  the  yi^r  444  h.  is  lum  '  suitable  locus 
f(ur  Borielee,  i^aSe  the  onntie  ^  *^  of  Akstnder'f 
life  wa.K  the  year  ^  b.c.  T%«  ^  hittr  -  ki  thus 
described:— 

"Flnt  nae  the  th  'i<e  ne:  in  <piritu8,  ixader  a  ueavenly 
afflatus,  .  Hylup  hod<"«  .  ipiued,  the  creators  of  Tragedy 
out  cf  a  VI.  mi.  .mt  ;  coraes  ArUtophaoes,  who  breathed 
tiw  bmrth  of  lie  Qna^  ,  dbao  comes  the  graet  friUloic^te, 
Anax.  jorag,  first  thcf  iaed  successfully  upon  mari  and  the 
world.  Nex  ■nue.  wheth<p  gnat  or  not,  the  still  more  famous 
pMbstHthcfg,  ^tes,  Pla  Xenophsa ;  ttm  OMBflt,  leaning  upon 
'>r      .  -  80.     iiii  <  \  'fd  ipon  him,  the  divine  artist 

Fhidma;  ^ad  behind  i  aort  .  ooaa  walk  Herodotus  and  Thu- 
ydi'iss." 

'li-  Ale  t^dri  If   lUster  is  not  quite  so  brilliant,  but 
^ Quince    inakt    capital  play  with  the  two  central 
^u^  .^    urit   tie  aiid  DemosUiraes.  Next  comes  Lysip- 
m  tib.  "^n^^^,  and  .^dlee,  the  painter.    No  otl^ 
^  '  f    mer^^gf^  :  a  testimonial  to  De  Quincey's 
V    N  ad  be  easily  given,  but  as  they  do 

no  .,tai  foriii  jt  quite  the  same  rank  as  the  men  of 
the  Periciean  cluster,  we  are  merely  told  that  "there  are 
now  nquisite  mastefs  df  the  more  refined  eoiaeiy" 
and  "historians  there  are  now  as  in  that  former  age." 
PttkAes  is  well  balanced     "  Aleamiuier  himself,  with  a 


244  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINa 

glittering  eortige  of  general  officers  well  qualified  to 
wear  the  crowns  which  they  will  win." 

Having  now  got  his  two  clusters,  De  Qidncey  pro- 
ceeds to  unite  them  under  the  figure  of  the  two  balls  of 
a  dumb-bell,  the  cylindrical  bai  joining  them  bemg 
represented  by  the  orator  Isocrates,  pater  eloquentice 
and  eommuniB  magisUr  oratorum,  Milton's  "that  old 
man  eloquent"  who,  thanks  to  weak  lungs  and  con- 
stitutional cowardice,  contrived  to  keep  out  of  trouble 
long  enough  to  have  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the 
great  men  of  both  clusters.   The  aged  orator  ha  l  seen 
twenty-four  Olympiads,  and  therefore  quite  satisfac- 
torily bridged  the  111  years  that  separated  444  b.c. 
from  333  b.c.   It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  in- 
genious and  —  perhaps  with  the  exception  of  that  sup- 
pressed reason  for  the  choice  of  the  date  444  b.c.  — 
a  fairer  illustration  of  Paterculus's  thesis.   Every  ex- 
perienced teacher  wiU  appreciate  its  practical  value. 

While  a  material  iUustration  like  that  of  the  dumb- 
beU  IS  frequently  very  effective  in  such  a  connection  as 
that  in  which  De  Quincey  uses  it,  we  get  greater  help 
from  it  when  we  keep  to  the  region  of  the  material. 
There  it  has  a  compelling  power  that  it  lacks  in  more 
abstract  connections.  It  would  require  a  very  great 
deal  of  writmg  to  convey  the  same  accurate  effect  as 
is  produced  by  the  following  illustratioB:— 

"The  battle  was  fought  as  though  the  British  troops  were  travel- 
Iwg  along  the  radii  of  a  fan,  of  which  the  French  constituted  the 

outer  circumfereno^  As  the  fight  profWMed,  the  fan  commenced 
to  ocmtract." 

There  is,  unfortunately,  an  ambiguity  involved  in  the 
one  word  contract.  As  a  matter  of  experiment  with  an 
intelligent  class  of  students  (age  21-24)  I  found  that 


EZEMPL.  ICATION  AND  ANALOGY 


about  a  third  r^^arded  the  Sg^n  as  imi^yiiig  that  the 
fan  bqsan  to  get  smaller  from  tip  to  circumference,  or, 
in  other  words,  by  the  diminution  in  the  length  of  the 
radii.  The  substitution  of  the  word  close  for  con- 
tract removes  all  possibility  of  misunderstanding  the 
expositor's  meaning.  A  figure  like  this  is  a  sort  oi  un- 
drawn diagram.  A  few  lines  <m  a  blaekboard  would 
make  the  matter  equally  clear,  but  in  cases  where  a 
certain  shape  (in  this  case,  the  fan)  is  fixed  in  the  minds 
of  the  pupils,  it  is  quite  legitimate  to  use  that  as  a 
standard.  For  example,  in  describing  the  position  of 
the  British  forces  in  Natal  at  thebegbnhigof  the  Boor 
War,  a  newspaper  correspondent  asked  his  readers  to 
treat  the  mountain  system  as  a  giant  letter  A,  with  the 
apex  pointing  north.  Then  he  proceeded  to  give  the 
position  of  Ladysmith  and  other  towns  within  the  letter, 
udng  such  terms  as  the  bridge  of  tibe  A,  tihe  bf t  leg 
of  the  A,  the  endosed  triang^  of  tiie  A.  These  fipoee 
have  a  compelling  power  that  dineto  the  mind  of  the 
pupil,  whether  he  will  or  no. 

On  the  other  hand,  such  figures  must  be  very  definitely 
presented.  I  have  seen  considerable  confusion  arise 
in  a  junior  class  from  the  statonent  that  tlw  watershed 
of  England  was  shaped  like  the  letter  T,  since  the 
teacher  had  to  explain  that  first  of  all  the  top  of  the  T 
was  not  quite  straight,  but  somewhat  squinted;  and 
further,  that  the  top  of  the  T  was  at  the  bottom  of  the 
map.  In  fact,  the  T  mtm  staiMiing  cm  its  head.  The 
same  iSmtralkm  nteoeetfed  mv^  b^ter  in  another  ease, 
where  the  teacher  began  at  once  by  saying  that  the 
vatershed  was  like  a  capHal  T  turned  upside  down. 
The  minor  differences  were  introduced  when  the  pupils 
were  familiar  with  the  figure  as  a  whole. 


246  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

It  often  happens  that  when  a  generalisarion  has  been 
stated  the  pupil  understands  it  in  a  broad  way,  but  is 
not  quite  sure  as  to  its  appUcation.  If  the  generalisa- 
tion 18  followed  by  one  or  two  examples,  the  pupil  has 
the  opportunity  of  testing  how  far  his  impressions  are 
nght.  Sometimes  the  examples  show  him  that  he  has 
taken  up  a  wrong  view  of  the  meaning  of  the  rule,  but 
even  when  he  has  not  to  change  his  first  view,  he  feels 
a  great  mcrease  in  confidence  from  having  seen  the 
rule  in  action.  A  capital  instance  of  such  a  useful  illus- 
tration is  to  be  found  in  the  continuation  of  a  passage 
quoted  from  Herbert  Spencer  in  Chapter  m  of  this 
book.  If  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  passage  referred  to 
and  reread  it,>  he  will  find  that  the  followmg  passage 
adds  considerably  to  the  clearness  of  the  otherwise  very 
Batisfaetory  ezpoeltiini:— 

"Under  a  clear  sky,  and  with  no  trees,  hedges,  houses,  or  other 
objects  at  hand,  shadows  are  of  a  pu»  blue.  During  «  red  mmnt 
mixture  <rf  the  yeUow  light  from  the  upper  part  of  the  western  sky! 
with  the  blue  hght  from  the.  eastern  sky,  produces  green  shado^! 
Go  near  to  a  gas  lamp  on  a  moonlight  night,  and  a  pencil  pkoed  at 
nght  angles  to  a  piece  of  paper  will  be  found  to  cast  a  purple  blue 
shadow  and  a  yellow  shadow,  produced  by  the  gaa  and  the  mooo 

It  is  now  easy  to  admit  what  wa«^^  suggested  at  the 
bei^ming  of  the  chapter,  that  even  when  we  are  dealing 
with  the  most  common  form  of  iUustration,  the  supply- 
ing of  an  example  to  make  clear  the  application  <rf  a  rule, 
we  are  still  working  within  the  realms  of  analogy! 
The  example  owes  its  value  to  the  fact  that  it  is  in  at 
least  one  point  like  all  other  examples  of  the  principle 
It  esemplifiea;  any  eaunple  of  the  working  of  a  rule 


l^Ti. 


EXEMPLIFICATION  AND  ANALOGY 


247 


embodies  the  essential  relation  implied  in  that  rule, 
however  different  the  terms  between  which  the  relation 

exists. 

When  we  deal  with  the  type  as  illustration,  we  have  a 
special  case  of  the  illustration  of  the  rule  by  example. 
It  may  be  maintained  not  imreasonably  that  the  tjpe 
really  combines  in  itself  the  rule  and  the  example: 
it  may  be  said  to  b^  a  definition  become  concrete.  It 
corresponds  to  all  that  is  essential  in  the  rule.  Sup- 
pose we  are  dealing  with  insects,  for  instance;  any  in- 
sect will  serve  for  a  mere  example.  But  only  certain 
insects  possess  all  the  essential  elements  that  go  to 
the  formation  of  the  complete  connotation  of  "msect." 
No  insect  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  perfect  type  of  the 
class,  but  the  cockchafer  is  usually  selected  because 
he  combines  all  the  essential  qualities,  though  some  of 
them  are  present  only  in  a  rudimentwy  form.  Some- 
times it  sounds  inappropriate  to  speak  of  a  type  at  alL 
Red  is  no  more  a  typical  colour  than  is  any  other.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  quote  a  typical  sentence.  "What 
is  nobler  than  to  die  for  one's  country  ?"  has  no  more 
right  to  be  regarded  as  a  type  than  has  the  homely 
"  Cows  eat  grass."  But  when  we  eome  to  special  kindi 
of  sentences, —exclamatory,  mterrogative,  declaratcwy, 
—we  may  well  have  a  type.   Having  defined  a  loose 
and  a  periodic  sentence,  it  is  quite  easy  to  select  a 
sentence  that  is  typically  loose,  and  another  that  is 
typically  periodic. 

In  dealing  wi^h  the  type  it  is  well  to  make  it  at  ab- 
stract as  the  c. .  ,  itions  of  the  case  admit.  The  typi- 
cal insect  muc  .ve  a  particular  colour,  since  we  cannot 
have  a  real  tangible  insect  without  colour  of  some  sort. 
But  of  thk  oofaMir  abrtnetkm  should  be  made  m  ap- 


aiS  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


plymg  our  type  as  illustration;  and  as  colour  is  one  of 

the  moat  attractive  qualities,  we  may  find  this  abstrao- 
ti<;n  difficult.  On  the  other  hand,  in  dealing  with  the 
various  kinds  of  sentences,  we  find  it  easier  to  be 
abstract.  "That  a  is  b,  that  c  is  d,  that  e  is  f,  that  g is 
h  cannot  be  quesdoned"  is  a  typical  periodic  sentoice. 
"He  denied  that  s  is  t,  that  u  is  v,  that  w  is  x,  that 
y  is  z"  is  an  equally  typical  loose  sentence.  The  ad- 
vantage of  expressing  them  in  this  abstract  form  is 
that  the  attention  is  directed  to  the  essential  point 
without  being  drawn  off  to  the  matter  which  might  be 
in  itself  interesting. 

While  the  type  as  illustration  should  be  made  as 
abstract  as  possible,  this  abstractness  should  not  be 
suddenly  introduced.  There  is  an  important  difference 
here  between  the  beginning  and  the  ending  of  a  process 
of  learning,  niustrative  examples  at  the  beginning 
of  a  process  may  be  more  or  less  concrete,  with  proper 
precautions  against  their  monopolising  an  illegitimate 
amount  of  interest.  When  the  stage  of  the  particular 
has  been  mastered,  the  results  may  be  well  fixed  in  the 
pupil's  mind  in  its  barest  form  by  means  of  an  abstract 
type.  When  we  are  usmg  the  abstract,  at  any  rate,  it  is 
well  to  be  as  abstract  as  possible.  The  introduction  of 
a  little  of  the  concrete  in  the  middle  of  an  abstract 
formula  is  very  disconcerting.  This  cannot  be  better 
illustrated  than  by  reference  to  the  abstract  tjrpes  of  the 
pmodic  and  loose  s«it«iees  just  supplied  in  th^  chapter. 
If  the  reader  remembers — and  very  probably  the  rouler 
will  remember,  for  in  actual  teaching  the  point  has 
struck  quite  a  number  of  pupils — the  first  sentence  dealt 
with  the  first  letters  of  the  ^phabet  and  the  second  with 
the  final  lettos  of  the  alphabet.  The  pupil  at  once 


EXEMPLIFICATION  AND  ANALOGY 


24» 


wants  to  know  why.  He  is  so  accustomed  to  find  a 
meaning  in  all  the  illustrations  used,  and  to  find  a 
meaning  undeiiyii^  the  gen^  activities  of  life,  that 
he  very  naturally  looks  for  one  here.  He  applies  the 
principle  :  The  exception  proves  the  rule,  and  wants 
to  know  why  the  matter  —  for  in  this  case  the  bare 
letters  form  the  matter  —  should  be  different  in  the  two 
cases.*  Since  the  two  kinds  of  oratences  are  r^arded 
as  differing  merdy  in  form,  it  is  .fell  to  avoid  evoi  the 
trifling  difference  suggested  by  the  letters.  The  same 
letters  should  be  used  in  the  two  cases.  As  a  later 
exercise,  on  the  other  hand,  the  examples  might  be 
changed,  if  only  to  show  that  the  exact  number  of 
cUuses  and  the  nature  of  the  subjects  and  predicates 
have  nothing  to  do  with  i^aether  a  sentence  is  periodic 
or  loose. 

'  It  is  because  of  this  that  in  changing  from  Hurray's  Dictionary 
to  Webster's  in  Chapter  I  (p.  17)  I  have  taken  the  trouble  to  mention 
vhy.  Had  I  not  done  so,  I  alumid  ewtainljr  bftv*  baui  aikad  mj 
naaon  Iqr  •  Biimbnr  of  naden. 


CHAFTIE  X 


The  Stobt  as  TiiiiWi  iw 

When  the  worldly  wise  Chesterfield  gives  the  ad- 
vice, "Never  tell  stories,"  he  has  in  view  the  social 
bore.  He  is  pleading  for  the  rights  of  the  individual 
in  oaaransatirai,  wMch  are  akmw^  widangaped  iHmii 
story-teUing  creeps  in.  The  tdler  of  tales  is  ai  neces- 
sity a  monopolist. 

In  expository  work,  whether  in  school  or  on  the  plat- 
form, the  speaker's  monopoly  is  already  granted,  so 
any  objection  to  story-telling  must  be  based  on  other 
geeunds.  To  tiie  ordinary  listener  at  an  ordinary  les- 
son or  lecture,  even  a  comparatively  dull  stoiy  is  more 
interesting  than  the  rest  of  the  talking,  and  need 
not,  if  the  expositor  has  the  necessary  skill,  interfere 
with  the  development  of  the  main  line  of  thought.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  teaching  by  means  of  stories  is  of  the 
most  vraerable  antiquity  and  is  practically  universal. 
Plato  recognises  its  importance  in  education.  In  Tk§ 
Republic  *  we  have  the  following:  — 

"Socrates.  Shall  we  just  carelessly  allow  children  to  hear  any 
casual  tales  which  may  be  devised  by  casual  persons,  and  to  receive 
into  their  minds  ideas  for  the  most  part  the  T«y  apptmibt  at  tiboet 
which  we  should  wish  them  to  have  whm  thqr  are  grown  iiq;>f 

"  Adeimantus.  We  cannot. 

"Socrattt.  7hea  the  first  thing  wiH  be  to  eBtaUish  a  "antftnihfp 
ci  the  writers  <rf  fictkm,  and  let  the  cenaon  receive  any  tale  of  fietka 


*  Book  n,  Seetion  377;  the  Engiidi  Jowott'i. 
360 


THB  SrOBY  AS  ILLUSTSATION 


2S1 


which  k  good,  and  reject  the  bad;  and  we  will  desire  mothers  and 

nurses  to  tell  their  children  the  authorised  ones  only.  Let  thf^m 
fashion  the  mind  with  such  tales,  even  more  fondly  tlum  they  mould 
tlw  body  with  theur  hands;  but  most  of  those  wUoh  are  noir  in  use 
murt  be  discarded." 

Plato  then  proceeds  to  give  examples  of  the  sort  of 
things  found  in  the  currrat  stories  of  his  time,  in  which 
the  gods  are  represented  as  doing  unworthy  things. 
Even  Homer  and  Hesiod  are  not  held  free  from  blame, 
and  would  require  a  great  deal  of  attention  from  the  cen- 
sor before  Plato  would  let  their  works  loose  among 
young  people.  Most  teadiers  have  an  uncomfortable 
feeling  about  specially  pr^Mured  "books  for  the  young," 
and  it  is  with  a  little  shiver  that  they  approve  of  "the 
authorised  ones."  The  specially  prepared  story  is  apt 
to  suffer  from  the  dissipated  interest  of  the  author. 
He  has  to  keep  his  eye  so  closely  fixed  upon  the  censor 
that  he  is  apt  to  foifet  the  children. 

We  shall  be  in  a  better  podtion  to  criticise  the  illus- 
trative story  when  we  have  considered  its  mode  of 
affecting  readers  or  hearers.  There  are  two  main  pur- 
poses to  be  served  by  the  story  as  a  means  of  instruc- 
tion, the  first  limited  to  the  communication  and  the 
acquirement  of  knowledge,  the  second  otending  to 
conduct.  In  the  second  class  there  are  two  divisions. 
For  in  using  the  story  as  a  means  of  affecting  conduct 
the  teacher  depends  upon  the  pupil's  inherent  tendency 
to  imitate,  and  according  as  this  imitation  is  direct  or 
mediated  by  some  d^;ree  of  reflecticm  we  have  two 
forms  of  application,  primary  and  seeondury,  Tbiae% 
may  thus  be  saki  to  be  in  all  three  outstandi^  uses  of 
the  story. 

The  first  use  of  stories  is  to  give  practice  in  manipu- 


252  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


lating  ideas.  Toms  as  presented  to  us  in  tact-books  are 
often  inort,  dead.  But  whra  we  find  them  in  use  in  a 

story  they  are  living  and  functioning,  and  often  explain 
their  meaning  by  their  very  use  in  a  context  that  is  other- 
wise intelligible.  We  find  them  there  as  we  find  them  in 
real  life.  In  fact,  story-reading  is  a  kind  of  living  at  the 
second  remove.  It  extends  and  enriches  our  experience. 
What  is  true  about  the  historical  novel  in  the  teaching 
of  history  is  true  of  the  story  in  respect  of  life  in  general. 
It  shows  us  principles  in  action.  We  know  certain 
facts  as  facts  by  themselves,  but  in  the  story  we  find 
those  facts  applied  in  a  life  that  is  not — or  at  any  rate 
ought  not  to  be  —  very  different  from  our  own.  We 
seldom  realise  how  much  we  owe  to  stories  in  the  way 
of  education.  To  be  sure,  teachers  are  now  rather  keen 
on  the  subject  of  stories,  but  this  modem  interest  is 
only  the  coming  to  consciousness  of  a  principle  that  has 
been  long  applied.  We  are  becoming  conscious  of  and 
are  writii^  about  th^  educative  influence  of  the  old 
story-tellers,  wandering  minstrels,  peddlers,  and  fireside 
Scheherazades;  but  their  influence  has  been  present 
all  the  while.  The  use  of  the  story  that  we  are  at 
present  considering  is  independent  of  the  moral  effect 
of  any  deliberate  lesson  the  story  may  convey.  The 
value  lies  in  the  material  presented  to  the  mind  for 
exercise. 

Consistency  with  the  facts  of  ordinary  life  is  surely 
a'modest  demand  to  make  from  the  user  of  illustrative 
stories.  The  moral  may  be  unimpeachaUe,  and  the 
rarer  condition  of  truth  to  human  nature  may  be  ob- 
served, but  if  a  glaring  breach  of  natural  law  is  detected 
in  a  story,  all  the  rest  goes  for  nothing:  harm  is  done, 
not  good.   The  classical  story  of  the  magnanimous 


THE  STORY  A8  ILLUSTRATION 


253 


miner  is  a  case  in  point.  The  vessel  is  slowly  settling  in 
mid-HMieaa.  The  mino'  who  is  returning  i^ter  having 
made  his  pile  has  completed  the  arrangements  necessary 
to  meet  the  catastrophe.  The  confiding  little  girl,  who 
of  course  has  no  relatives  on  board,  comes  up,  and  in 
good  Sunday-school  language  says,  "Oh,  sir,  can  you 
swim  ?  "  He  admits  that  he  can,  so  she  at  once  places 
herself  under  his  protection,  and  so  touched  is  he  with 
her  implicit  faith  [see  alphabetical  index]  that  he  at 
once,  though  of  course  reluctantly,  removes  the  belt  that 
contains  his  gold  —  worth  two  and  a  half  million  —  and 
does  what  is  right  [see  under  Duty  in  the  alphabetical 
index,  for  the  story  appears  under  this  head  as  well]. 
As  a  rule  the  attention  is  so  much  taken  up  with  the 
moral  side  of  the  question  that  no  trouble  arises.  But 
if  anyone  happens  to  take  up  the  "  arithmetical  chal- 
lenge" implied  in  the  $2,500,000,  and  works  out  the 
actual  weight  of  this  value  of  gold,  the  anecdote  suffers 
serious  moral  damage.  The  weight  of  gold  the  poor 
fellow  is  represented  as  carrying  in  his  belt  weighs  some 
trifle  more  than  four  tons.  The  pity  is  that  the  whole 
story  goes  to  pieces  on  this  fact,  for  $25,000  would 
have  served  the  illustrator's  purpose  just  as  well.  The 
smaller  sum  would  weigh  about  91  pounds,  quite  a 
sufficient  handicap  to  prev^t  themmer  trying  to  save 
both  the  girl  and  the  belt. 

The  second  and  most  obvious  use  of  the  story  is  to 
incite  to  a  definite  line  of  action.  "Go  thou  and  do 
likewise"  is  the  natural  rading  to  stories  of  this  kind. 
It  is  clear  that  I^to  has  this  imitative  use  mainly  in 
view.  The  doings  of  Uranus  and  Cronos  are  not  to  be 
told  to  the  boy,  lest  in  later  years  he  should  make  a 
practical  appUcation  of  what  he  had  learned  and — 


254  KXPOeiTION  AND  ILLUiTRATIOIf  IN  TISACHINQ 


"even  if  he  chastises  his  father  when  he  does  wrong,  in  whAtevar 
manlier,  b*  will  oaty  be  f olbwing  tiie  emnple  of  the  fiiit  $ad  gieet> 
ait  UDOQg  the  gode." ' 

Plato  is  no  believer  in  the  awful  example ;  he  knows  that 
the  suggestive  force  of  imitation  works  in  one  direction 
only.  This  class  of  story,  then,  should  be  as  straightfor- 
ward as  possible.  Parallelism  should  be  avoided  where 
direct  tcMUjhii^  is  available,  and  whm  used  should  be 
made  as  dear  as  possible,  and  as  free  from  refinemmts. 
Such  stories  are  illustrative  of  life,  and  should  bear  the 
test  of  constant  comparison  with  things  as  they  are. 
School  stories  are  apt  to  fall  lamentably  short  here. 
The  classical  sinner  in  this  respect,  if  we  are  to  believe 
the  popular  clamour  among  teaohm,  is  Eric,  or  LitOe  hy 
Little.  Priggishness  is  the  imiversal  complaint  against 
books  of  this  class,  and  it  is  perhaps  impossible  to  avoid 
this  vice  when  we  set  ourselves  deliberately  to  prepare 
an  illustrative  story.  But  the  priggishness  in  moral 
Bchod  stories  is  trifling  compared  with  the  unnaturalness 
introduced  into  the  SundaynBchooI  story  <3i  oommenM 
success.  In  business,  if  anywhere,  it  is  easy  to  test 
recipes  for  success.  A  boy  who  is  brought  up  on  stories 
of  the  immediate  commercial  success  that  follows  upon 
religious  practice  is  apt  to  become  unduly  depressed 
wlien  he  mters  on  r^  life.  In  the  bode  the  young 
man  is  dismissed  because  he  has  lost  an  order  by  con- 
fessing that  the  beans  were  not  of  the  same  quality  at 
the  bottom  of  the  barrel.  This  is  true  to  life.  But  the 
book'  makes  the  employers  write  to  the  young  man  a 
few  days  later,  saying  they  had  a  position  of  great 
trust  vacant,  and  wmild  he  aee^t  it  at  $800  increase 

'  RtjnMie,  II,  378. 

*  Bibk  Modeh,  by  Dr.  BiehMd  Newton,  p.  57. 


TIB  nORT  A8  ILLUBTRATIOir 


355 


on  his  former  salary.  This  is  not  quite  close  to  the 
facts  of  business  life.  What  could  be  more  misleading 
than  the  following,  a  type  of  hundred!  of  iUuetntive 
stodM:  — 

"A  few  yean  ago  the  owner  of  a  large  drugnstore  advertiaed  for 
a  boy.  The  next  day  the  store  was  thronged  with  boys  applying 
for  the  place.  Among  them  was  a  queer-looking  little  fellow,  accom- 
panied by  his  aunt.  'Ckn'ltakBliim,'Mkl(lMfantleBian; 'iM'ttoo 
small.' 

"  'I  know  he's nnall,' said  the  aunt,  'but  he's  prompt  and  faithful.' 

"  After  101110  consultation  the  boy  was  set  to  woric.  [NatursB^ 
employers  would  take  the  smallest  of  the  throng,  if  only  he  had  an 
aunt  with  him.]  Not  long  after,  a  call  was  made  on  the  boys  for 
MHneooe  to  ■uj  in  the  stars  aO  ni^t.  The  aOmr  boys  wemad 
reluctant  to  dbr  tiidrienriees.  But  tliii  bogr]Hagq[»t|jrMk^ 'I'D 
stay,  sir.' 

"In  tiie  middle <rf  the  ni|^t  tlie  merdumtwent  bto  theatora  to 

see  that  all  was  right,  and  found  the  boy  busy  at  work  cutting  labdik 
'WhatareyoudoiQg,my  boy7' saidbe.  'I  didn't  tell  you  to  woiic 
all  night.' 

** '  I  know  yoa  (fidn%  sir,  but  I  though  I  m%iit  ae  Wei  be  doiii« 

something.' 

"The  next  day  the  cashier  was  told  to  'double  that  boy's  waga^ 
for  he  is  iNnmpt  ud  induatrioaB.' 

"  Not  many  weeks  after  this,  a  show  of  wild  beasts  was  passing 
through  the  streets,  and  naturally  enough  all  the  hands  in  the  store 
mdiedonttoaeetban.  A  thief  aawhfaofycrtuni^,  and  entered  by 
the  back  door  to  steal  something.  But  this  prompt  boy  had  stayed 
behind.  He  aeiied  the  thief,  and  after  a  short  struggle  captured 
him.  |Do  not  forget  how  small  he  was  awhSe  ago — but  than, 
maybe  it  was  a  small  thief.]  Not  only  was  a  robbery  prewttad,  bnt 
valuable  articles  stolen  from  other  stores  were  recovered. 

"  'Why  did  you  stay  behind,'  asked  tbe  merchant  of  this  boy, 
'when  all  the  others  went  out  to  see  tbe  Aem7' 

"  'Because,  sir,  you  told  me  never  to  kave  the  aton  when  the 
others  were  absent ;  so  I  thought  I'd  stay.' 

"  Orders  wna  ^ven  once  more :  '  Double  that  boy's  wafsa,  for  be 
is  not  only  pnmpi  and  industrious,  but  faithfuL'   [Hov  i 


2S6 


mam  and  uxumuTioif  v  tbacboto 


aequirai  tlM  doul^  baUt !]  That  boy  b  now  getting  a  salarjr  of 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars  i  year,  and  before  long  he  will  become  a 
member  of  the  firm.  pVe  are  a  little  surprised  at  the  delay  in  mak- 
ing him  a  partner.]  He  was  following  Elijah's  model  of  promptneM, 
•nd  H         to  make  bii  fortniM." ' 

What  a  disillusionment  is  in  store  for  boys  brought 
op  on  such  travel^  of  real  Ufet 

The  third  use  of  the  story  as  Illustration  resembles  the 
second  inasmuch  as  it  conveys  a  direct  lesson,  but  differs 
from  it  since  it  does  not  present  a  simple  line  of  conduct 
to  be  imitated.  It  rather  suggests  general  principles 
which  must  be  applied  by  the  pupil  to  his  own  case. 
Sometimes  it  is  written  to  order,  as  in  the  ease  <rf  faUes 
and  allegories,  but  sometimes  it  has  been  made  for  quite 
other  purposes  and  has  had  a  meaning  read  into  it  by 
some  ingenious  expositor.  New  applications  of  famil- 
iar old  stories  illustrate  lb>!*  use.  A  great  many  of  our 
political  eartoona  are  baaeii  on  thto  manipulaticm  oi 
old  material  in  a  new  connectLi>.  An  ingenious  com- 
mentator illustrated  his  whimsical  view  of  what  he 
called  "The  Devil's  Apprenticeship"  by  showing  the 
gradual  improvement  in  temptation  methods,  as  shown 
by  three  histcnieal  examples  of  Satan's  wwkmandiip. 
In  the  case  of  Job  he  knew  so  little  about  his  bunneia 
that  he  endeavoured  to  obtain  his  ends  by  blundering 
brutality  and  cruelty.  When  it  came  to  the  temptation 
of  Our  Lord  he  had  learnt  enough  to  go  about  the 
matter  in  quite  a  different  way;  and  had  he  had  to  deal 
wiUi  an  (n-dinary  ease  he  would  |»obabfy  have  won, 
thanks  to  his  more  attractive  methods.  But  when  the 
turn  of  Faust  came,  Satan  had  learned  his  art  of  tempta- 
tion so  well  that  he  was  irresistible.  He  had  learned  not 


>  Dr.  Biehard  Newton :  BikU  ModOa^  p.  179. 


to  bully  and  torture;  he  had  gtven  up  even  the  attea^ 
tive  lure;  he  did  not  peater  Fanttone  way  or  the  othtr: 
he  woUtd  Htt  k$  wat  coM,  Had  the  oommeDtator 
known  the  newer  psychology,  he  might  have  expressed 
his  meaning  by  saying  that  Satan  had  attained  the 
point  of  carrying  on  temptation  by  means  of  peeudo- 
auto-suggestion. 

Nowhere  ean  w«  iliMl  a  beM«  exanqile  of  idiat  Plato 
would  caU  "authoiiaed  talea"  than  in  the  Fables  of  La 
Fontaine.  These  were,  and  to  some  extent  still  are, 
recognised  as  specially  suitable  for  the  instruction  of 
the  young.  Tl  .oy  held  the  place  in  France  that  the 
Catechism  held  in  Scotland.  Caiildbwn  were  adeed  if 
they  Imew  theb fables  just aa  ateaeher  mi^t  ask  a  boy 
if  he  knew  "his  tables,"  or  as  Roger  Ascham  might  have 
asked  him  if  he  knew  "his  noun."  It  was  only  there- 
fore to  be  expected  that  Rousseau  wo^ild  have  something 
very  serious  to  say  against  them.  '  ^'--^  attack  in  the 
imiU  *  foUowa  two  diffmit  lines,  the  »r'i'vo  «mI  the 
moral.  The  first  part  of  his  critic:  ;  .uh  with  the 
matter  of  the  fables  mainly  from  tht  puiii-  of  view  of 
the  children's  intelligence.  He  is  aiudous  to  show,  in  the 
first  place,  that  children  cannot  understand  the  fables. 
When  he  has  dsmoostrated  this  to  lia  satiafaetion,  he 
prooeeda  to  ahow  that  efven  if  iktif  <8d  mtderstand,  they 
would  be  sure  to  misapply  their  knowledgt .  The  first 
part,  therefore,  deals  with  the  expository  side,  the  second 
more  directly  with  the  illustrative.  As  both  are  of  the 
greatest  interest  in  connection  with  our  aubj^ect,  the 
passage bwor&quotiiqt in itaoitbety.  ^MetheBomh 
seau  criticism  demands  a  line-for-line  translation  of  the 
fi^le  of  the  Fox  and  the  Crow,  I  have  been  driven, 

>  Edition  d«  Ch.  lAbun,  1856,  livn  II,  p.  490  ff. 


258  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TRATI(»r  IN  TBACHINO 


though  not  ereii  on  speaking  terms  with  the  Muses,  to 
make  a  rendenng  of  my  own. 

THB  FOX  AND  TUB  CROW 

On  traMop  perched  sat  Master  Crow : 

WHTOn  his  beak  he  held  a  cheew^ 
Hie  aoKit  led  Master  Fox  bebw, 

Who  him  addressed  in  words  like  then: 
"Ha I  good  day,  good  day,  dear  Sir  Crow; 
How  fair  you  are  I   How  do  your  looks  me  please  I 

Without  a  lie,  if  but  your  note 

Matches  at  all  your  beauteous  coat. 
You  are  the  phenix  'mongst  the  woodland  train." 

These  words  with  joy  nigh  turned  the  crow's  weak  bi^: 

And  to  display  his  dulcet  strain 
He  opes  his  beak  —  down  falls  the  ciieese  amain. 
The  fox  enjoyed  the  cheese,  then  said,  "Qood  Sir: 

Now  learn  that  every  flatterer 

Lives  upon  him  his  flatt'ries  please : 
A  lesson  this  no  doubt  well  worth  a  cheese." 

Confounded  and  ashamed,  the  crow 
Swora,  wxnewbat  late,  none  eke  dioakl  hav«  him  m, 

CBmcMH  BT  RonsaisAD 
On  tr»4op  perched  eat  Mauler  Crow: 

"Mtrter."  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  word  m  itself?  What 
does  it  mean  befm  a  propernunar  What  meaning  has  it  hera? 

What  is  a  crow  ? 

What  is  the  meaning  of  "on  tree-top  perched  "?  We  do  not  say 
"on  tree-top  pwehed,"  but  "perched <m  a  tree-top."  Consequently 
we  must  spMk  cf  poetioal  invmriou.  W«  muit  teO  lAal  pnM  ii 
and  verse. 

Wmn  hie  beak  heheUatImm, 

What  cheese?  Was  it  Swiss,  Brie,  or  Dutch?  If  the  child  has 
never  seen  a  crow,  what  do  you  gam  by  qieaking  to  him  of  it?  If 


THB  STORY  AB  ILLUSTRATION 


he  has  seen  one,  how  eu  he  imafuie  it  hoUiiig  a  cheeae  in  Ha  beak? 
Let  ua  ahrayi  make  our  QhKtmtkms  agree  wHh  nature. 

STke  aeml  ltd  Mtuitt  foot  &alMa. 

Another  "Master."  But  this  time  by  good  right.  Hefapaak 
Master  in  all  the  triclca  of  hia  trade.  We  must  tell  what  a  fox  is, 
and  distingtiish  his  true  nature  from  the  oonventkuuU  oharactw 
which  he  has  in  fables. 

Led  by  the  aeent  0/  a  cheese 

This  cheese,  held  by  a  crow  perched  upon  a  tree-top,  must  have 
had  a  powerful  smdl  to  be  perceived  by  dir  fox  in  a  thieket  6r  in  a 
burrow.  Is  it  thus  that  you  exercise  your  pupil  in  the  spirit  of 
well-balanced  criticism  which  only  allows  itself  to  be  imposed  upon 
under  suitable  artistic  conditions,  and  can  discriminate  between 
truth  and  ^jrh«  in  the  tales  of  anotherr 

WW  wmf  fwwwfw  mnir  w^OTV  www  ww*  w  wwm9  wot^p  • 

Wardaf  Foxes  speak,  then  ?  They  speak  the  same  language  as 

crows !  Wise  instructor,  be  careful.  Weigh  wM  jronr  rqdy  baloie 
making  it:  it  means  more  than  you  think. 

"Haf  good  day,  good  ian,  dear  Sir  Cntw; 

Sir!  A  title  which  the  child  sees  turned  into  ridicule,  even  before 
he  knows  that  it  is  a  title  (d  honour.  Those  who  say  Sir  Crow  will 
have  plmty  to  do  before  they  exjdain  this  Sir. 

How  fair  you  are  I   Hoto  do  your  looks  me  please  f 

Padding,  useless  repetition.  The  child,  seeing  the  same  thing 
repeated  in  different  terms,  leama  to  tpetk  slovenly.  If  you  say 
that  this  redundancy  is  an  art  of  the  author,  that  it  enters  into  the 
plan  of  the  fox,  who  warts  to  appear  to  multiply  praises  with  words, 
that  exisase  wiD  do  for  me,  but  not  for  my  pupiL 


WiihctU  a  lie,  if  but  your  note 

WiiOund  a  Kef  People  lie,  then,  sometimes.  What  can  the 
child  think  if  you  explafai  to  him  ttel  ik»  kat  aefy  ttM  ''wHhottt  • 
lie  "  beoMHe  he  waa  lying. 


260  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


MakkM  ct  §a  your  taMftoM  coat, 

Matae$I  Wh  -  does  this  word  mean r  Teadi  thediildtoeom- 
pare  things  so  different  aa  TMoe  and  {diaaafe:  you  trttl  aee  boir  ha 
will  understand  you. 

You  are  the  phenix  'mongtt  the  woatBand  Warn.** 

The  phenix  I  What  is  a  phenix  ?  Here  we  are  all  at  ooee  tittwrn 
into  the  fictions  of  antiquity,  almost  into  mythology. 

The  woodland  train  I  What  figurative  speech !  The  flatterer 
ennobles  his  speech  and  gives  it  more  dignity  in  order  to  render  it 
more  seductive.  Will  a  child  understand  this  delicate  policy?  Does 
he  ev«r  know,  mh  he  know,  iHiat  a  ndUe  or  a  low  sty  le  is  ? 

These  worda  with  joy  nigh  turned  the  crow'a  weak  bram: 

One  must  have  ah^ady  experienced  very  keen  rtisskms  to  undw* 
stai^  this  fvomUal  expression. 

And  to  display  hia  dulcet  alndn 

Do  not  foiget  that  to  understand  this  verse,  and  all  the  (able, 
the  ehild  must  know  what  the  dulcet  strains  of  a  crow  are. 

He  opea  hia  beak  —  down /rrfft  t\t  dium  amain. 

This  line  is  admirable.  The  verj'  harmony  makes  a  picture  of  it. 
I  see  a  big  ugly  open  beak;  I  hear  the  cheese  falling  through  the 
branches ;  but  beauties  like  these  are  loat  on  difldren. 

Opea.^  This  word  ia  out  of  ordinary  use.  It  must  be  explained. 
One  must  say  that  it  is  only  used  in  verse.   The  child  will  ask  why 

people  spflftkdiiMi^  in  {iroMMidb  Done.  What  wfD  you  answer 

liim? 

The  fox  enjoyed  the  eheete,  then  aaid  "  Good  Sir  : 

Here  we  have,  then,  ah«ady,  goodness  turned  into  vileness. 
CSwtafaily  the  tree  of  knowledge  is  an  early  plant  in  our  children's 
gaiden. 

In  the  original  this  note  applies  to  the  woid  oBtfeM  In  the  thiid 
lino  from  the  beginoiog,  but  the  feneral  sense  is  not  at  all  changed 
hjr  tnnrtNilug  tiM  mwito  to  the  Er^^OA  poetical  form,  opea. 


THE  STORY  AS  ILLUSTRATION  2U 


Now  kmm  ilai  omrjfjlalkm 
QaiMnlitotflBMDt;  w»  m«  qaite  bqrood  oor  chplk. 

Lives  upon  him  hiaflatt'riea  pleaae: 
No  dbBd  of  ten  will  ever  understand  this  line. 

A  Usaon  this  no  doubt  well  worth  a  cheese." 

That  is  true,  and  the  thought  is  vary  good.  Yet  then  will  be 
found  very  few  children  who  c$n  eompare  a  kMon  to  a  dieeM,  and 
who  would  not  prefer  the  dieew  to  the  lesson.  We  must  get  them  to 
understand,  then,  that  this  icmaik  is  <alf  a  joke.  What  fine-drawn 

distinctions  for  children  I 

Confounded  and  cuhamed,  the  crow 
Another  pleonasm;  but  this  (Hie  is  unpardonable. 

Stxtrt,  towKwIat  laU,  none  dm  thoftM  ham  kirn  to. 

SvDorel  What  sort  of  blockhead  ii  the  master  who  dans  to 

explain  to  a  child  what  an  oath  b  ? 

Here  we  have  abundance  of  details,  yet  not  so  many  as  would  be 
necessary  to  analyse  all  the  ideas  of  this  fable,  and  to  reduce  them 
to  the  simple  and  elementary  ideas  of  which  each  of  them  is  com- 
posed. But  who  believes  that  there  is  need  of  this  analysis  to  make 
oneself  understood  by  the  young?  None  of  us  is  philosopher 
enou^  to  put  l^oos^  in  the  jdaoe  ci  a  di3d. 

Now  all  this  k  ingenious,  and  very  effectively  put. 
Unf ortunatdy,  it  does  not  stand  the  test  of  practleal 
api&aticm.  Rowsseau  has  fallen  into  the  very  common 
mistake  of  underestimating  the  intelligence  of  a  child. 
Further,  he  has  made  the  mistake  of  specifying  an  age. 
Most  of  us  would  have  thought  his  criticisms  applied  to 
a  child  of  seven.'  We  find  that  he  has  in  view  a  child  of 
ten.  Oneof  theteidier'teytf  <iffiedtiMwithMdNB 

*  In  his  eritieisB  of  tlM  ttonl  he  «sak8  of  "  flMidNB  «f  ■fs." 


282  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

of  this  age  is  to  keep  them  from  generalising  too  freely. 
Not  only  do  children  of  ten  easily  understand  the 
generalisation,  "every  flatterer  lives  upon  him  his 
flatt'ries  please,"  but,  unfortunately,  many  of  them 
actually  apply  it.   There  is  no  diffieulty  iHiatever  ia 
getting  a  class  of  pupils  of  ten  to  understand  Hm 
fable.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  teacher  of  such  a 
class  will  have  to  face  a  certain  resentment  among  the 
pupils  at  having  to  deal  with  such  childish  matters. 
As  to  the  spedal  (fiffieulties  nosed  by  Rouneau,  they 
can  be  all  easily  overcome  or  postponed.    It  is  not  at  all 
necessary,  for  example,  that  there  should  be  an  elabo- 
rate discussion  of  the  nature  of  prose  and  verse.  Chil- 
dren of  ten  know  exceedingly  well  in  a  practical  way 
what  each  is,  and  the  tmie  for  a  logical  definition  is  not 
yet.   Would  anyone  mamtain  that  sueh  a  definition  is 
necessary  before  a  child  can  understand  fully  the  fable 
before  him?   The  inversion  that  distresses  Rousseau 
will  certamly  be  noted  by  the  pupil.    He  will  feel  that  it 
is  diffefl«it  from  the  rest  of  his  book  work,  just  as  he 
notes  that  mudi  of  hm  book  work  is  different  from  his 
spoken  work.   He  is  beeoming  practically  acquainted 
with  what  inversion  means;  he  is  laying  up  a  capital  of 
experience  of  literary  form  against  the  day  when  he  has 
to  faee  the  ordmary  laws  of  rhetoric.    The  enquiry 
aboot  tbe  laid  of  efaeon  is  puerile.   The  dilemma  about 
seeing  a  crow  is  avoided  by  showing  a  picture— which, 
by  the  way,  settles  the  relative  size  of  the  cheese  at  the 
same  time.   Rousseau  and  the  naturalists  may  be  left 
to  fight  it  out  about  the  fox's  sense  of  smell.  Grown-up 
people  hear  enough  about  the  wonderful  powers  of 
animals  in  this  wagr  te  bo  willing  to  accept  La  Fontaine 
at  his  faee  vahw,  mi  ehildren  will  certainly  not  suffer 


THE  STORY  AS  ILLUSTRATION 


203 


from  following  their  example.  As  to  the  conventional 
character  of  the  fox,  there  is  not  much  that  the  child  of 
t«>n  brought  up  on  ordinary  schoolbooks  does  not  know, 
xiie  idea  of  a  child  learning  to  speak  slovenly  from 
imitating  the  style  of  La  Fcmtaine  I 

"People  lie,  then,  sometimes."  The  naif  Rousseau 
would  have  us  believe  that  a  child  of  ten  is  not  aware  of 
this.  Even  an  English  judge  would  not  dare  to  claim 
such  ignorance.  "  Matches  "  would  give  very  httle  dif- 
ficulty to  a  class  oi  girls,  and  no  class  of  boys  of  ten 
could  be  puzsled  by  the  recondite  statement,  "If 
your  singing  is  as  fine  as  your  coat  is  pretty."  Phenix 
must,  of  course,  be  explained ;  that  is,  we  must  tell  the 
child  what  we  have  read  in  books  about  it.  In  two 
minutes  the  child  knows  as  much  about  it  as  most  of  us 
go  through  life  with.  "  Can  a  child  know  what  a  noble 
and  a  low  style  is?"  Certainly,  if  only  Rousseau  will 
allow  him  to  have  examples  of  the  noble  style.  The 
other  he  usually  has  thrust  upon  him.  Does  anyone 
think  that  a  child  of  ten  cannot  discriminate  between 
the  style  of  a  comic  song  and  that  of  Hiawatha  or  one 
of  Maeaulay's  Lays.  Naturally  the  child  eannot  write 
a  thesis  on  the  distinction.  "Turned  the  crow's  weak 
brain"  seems  to  Rousseau  a  terrible  strain  on  the  chil- 
dren's intelligence.  The  trouble  is  that  for  this  expres- 
sion the  pupils  I  have  tested  have  usually  had  too  many 
equividents.  Unfortunately,  they  were  rather  <A  the 
"low  style":  — "got  barmy  with  joy,"  "<M  his  nut 
with  joy,"  "so  glad  he  got  a  slate  loose";  not  elegant, 
but  horribly  expressive  of  full  comprehension. 

While  on  the  score  of  intelligence  Rousseau  is  over- 
anxious, and  certainly  overcritical,  he  has  a  strong 
case  when  he  takes  up  the  moral  aspect:  — 


264  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


"  I  ask  if  it  is  to  children  of  six  that  we  should  teach  that  there  are 
men  who  flatter  and  lie  for  their  profit  f  One  might  at  most  teach 
them  that  there  are  moekere  who  make  ftm  of  little  boys,  and  laugh 
in  their  sleeves  at  silly,  boyish  vanity;  but  the  cheese  spoils  every- 
thing ;  one  teaches  them  not  so  much  to  drop  the  cheese  from  their 
own  mouths  as  to  make  it  drop  from  the  mouth  of  another.  Here, 
then,  is  my  second  paradox,  and  it  is  not  the  least  important. 

"  Observe  children  learning  their  fables,  and  you  will  see  that  when 
ihey  are  in  a  position  to  apply  them  they  almost  always  do  it  in  a 
way  contrary  to  the  intention  of  the  author ;  and  that  instead  <rf 
guarding  themselves  against  the  vice  of  which  we  wish  to  cure  or  from 
which  we  wish  to  protect  them,  they  are  inclined  to  love  the  vice  by 
means  of  which  one  makes  profit  out  <rf  the  failings  of  others.  In  the 
preceding  fable  children  laugh  at  the  crow,  but  they  have  aD  a  warm 
side  towards  the  fox ;  in  the  following  fable  you  think  you  are  givii^ 
them  the  graadiopper  as  an  example  —  not  at  all,  it  n  the  ant  that 
they  will  choose.  One  does  not  like  to  eat  humble  pie :  they  will 
always  play  the  grand  part;  it  is  the  choice  of  self-love,  a  most 
natural  didoe.  But  what  a  g^uurt^r  lesson  for  children  I  Hm  most 
hateful  of  all  monsters  would  be  a  hard  and  miserly  child,  knowing 
what  was  asked  of  him,  yet  refusing.  The  ant  does  more:  she 
teaches  the  chikl  to  chaff  while  refusing. 

"In  all  the  fables  where  the  lion  is  one  of  the  characters,  dnoe 
he  is  the  most  distinguished,  the  child  never  fails  to  make  himself 
the  lion;  and  when  he  superintends  distribution,  well  taught  by 
his  model,  he  is  most  careful  to  seize  everjrthing.  But  when  the 
gnat  gets  the  better  of  the  lion,  that  is  another  affair:  then  the 
child  is  no  longer  the  lion,  he  is  the  gnat.  He  learns  to  kill  one 
day  by  needle-thrasts  titose  whom  he  dare  not  attadc  b  a  staml- 
up  fight. 

"  In  the  fable  of  the  lean  wolf  and  the  fat  dog  in  place  of  the  lesson 
m  moderation  wbiA  is  btended  to  be  c(mveyed,  he  takes  a  lesson  in 
licence.  I  shall  never  forget  seeing  a  little  girl  weep  copiously 
because  she  was  being  taught  docility  by  means  of  this  fable.  Her 
friends  ooukl  not  ondentand  the  cause  of  her  team ;  at  length  they 

learned.  ShefsHgallsdlikethedoff;  shewq>tb«»useshewasoot 

the  wolf. 

"Thus,  then,  the  moral  of  the  first  fable  quoted,  is  for  the  child  a 
lesson  in  the  basert  flattery;  that  of  the  seoond  a  ItMon  in  faihuman- 


THE  STORY  AS  ILLUSTRATION 


266 


ity ;  that  of  the  third  a  lesson  in  injustice ;  that  of  the  fourtll  a 
lesson  in  satire ;  that  of  the  fifth  a  lesson  in  self-sufficiency. 


"But  periiaps  all  this  moral  which  serves  me  as  an  objection 
against  fables  may  furnish  so  many  reasons  for  preserving  than. 

We  must  have  one  moral  in  words  and  another  in  actions  in  sodety, 
and  these  two  do  not  at  all  resemble  each  other.  The  one  is  in  the 
Catechism,  where  folks  leave  it;  the  other  is  in  the  fables  of  La 
Fontaine." 

Depressing  as  all  this  sounds,  it  is  not  wiUiout  its 
brii^t  side.  The  very  self-refownce  Uiat  Roussewi 

deplores  is  in  itself  a  force  that  can  be  utilised  by  the 
teacher.  It  has  to  be  remembered  that,  however  this 
self-reference  may  be  debased  by  the  love  of  the  lime- 
light, it  is  in  itself  an  essential  part  of  our  nature. 
From  what  we  have  seen  abeady  as  to  the  nature  of 
consciousness,  we  are  compelled  to  r^;ard  everything 
from  our  oxm  point  of  view.  Whether  we  will  or  no, 
we  must  treat  subjects  on  the  assumption  that  we  are  at 
the  centre  of  the  universe.  Not  conceit  but  necessity 
makes  us  treat  ourselves  as  the  centre  of  all  things. 

As  for  tilie  desire  fw  the  best  part  in  the  drama  of  life, 
that  also  is  natural,  but  must  be  r^ulated  by  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  case.  Experience  must  teach  the  child 
his  true  place  in  the  play,  and  the  lea^t  costly  experience 
is  that  of  the  second  remove,  as  supplied  by  stories. 
Knowing  that  the  pupil  will  inevitably  put  himsdf 
among  the  dramatia  perwnm  of  the  stray,  and  almost 
inevitably  cast  himself  for  the  hero's  part,  the  teacher 
knows  how  to  arrange  his  material.  To  begin  with, 
the  knowledge  of  this  self-referent  tendency  frees  the 
teacher  from  the  necessity  for  that  blatant  moralising 
that  most  of  us  dislike.  This  does  not  meiD  that  the 


206  BXPOemON  AND  ILLU8TBATI0N  IN  TEACHING 

teacher  n  not  to  take  direct  means  to  aflFect  the  pupil, 
but  merely  that  he  need  not  expound  his  methods  and 
aiaw.  If  he  airanges  his  materials  properly,  the  pupil 
will  inevitably  do  the  rest.  The  stwy  must  be  so  pre- 
sented as  to  convey  a  clear  lesson;  the  pupils  must  be 
left  to  draw  the  moral  for  themselves.  In  cases  where 
there  is  a  conflict  of  opinion,  there  is  room  for  exposition 
and  even  exhortation.  But  when  the  story  raises  a  clear 
issue,  the  pupils  may  weU  be  left  to  settle  the  matter  for 
themselves. 

^  A  very  efTective  example  of  the  sort  of  self-interpret- 
mg  story  is  to  be  found  in  the  anecdote  laid  before  a 
mixed  class  of  boys  and  girls  in  one  of  the  slum  schools  of 
London.  There  was  no  comment  made  by  the  teacher 
at  the  time,  and  it  would  ahnoet  appear  as  if  even  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  story  was  told  in  school 
might  be  left  to  be  inferred  from  the  story  itself:— 

"Solomon  did  many  other  clever  things  besides  finding  out  who 
was  the  true  mother  of  the  living  child.  When  the  Queen  of  Sheba 
came  to  see  him,  she  f.'ave  liim  a  great  many  puzzling  things  to  do, 
but  he  did  them  all,  and  was  never  once  caught  out.  One  ol  her 
most  cunning  puzzles  was  to  bring  to  him  a  dozen  children,  all 
iWd  exactly  alike,  with  their  hair  just  the  same  length  and 
combed  m  the  same  way.  Some  of  thci a  were  boys  and  some  girls  • 
and  the  puzzle  was  for  Solomon  to  say  which  were  which.  All  he 
did  was  to  order  his  H.  rvants  to  bring  basins  and  make  aU  the 
children  wash  their  hand..  WTien  thk  was  finished,  he  picked 
out  those  who  had  washed  their  hands  only,  but  not  the  wiktB, 
and  said  these  were  the  boys.   And  he  was  right."  • 

Unfortunately,  certain  stories  are  so  ill  adapted  for 
then-  purpose  that  the  pupil  is  not  only  left  m  doubt, 

'  It  goes  without  saying  that  my  approval  of  the  illustrative  effi- 
ciency  of  this  stoiy  does  not  carry  with  it  approval  of  fabricaUon  of 
ocnpture  ineide&ts. 


THE  8T0RY  A8  ILLU8TSATI0N 


287 


but  aetually  impelled  to  draw  a  totally  wiong  moraL 
Take  the  foUowing  story,  intended  to  ittuetrale  Hiring 
faith:— 

"At  th«  Battle  of  Waterloo,  Nathan  Meyer  Rothschild  was  in  a 
shot-pnxrf  tent,  with  a  swift  horse  saddled  and  bridled  by  his  side. 
At  sunset  he  peered  over  the  battlefield,  and  saw  our  soldiers 
sweeping  the  French  before  them.  'Hurrah  I'  he  cried,  'the  house 
of  Rothschild  has  won  Waterloo ' :  his  house  had  lent  the  money  for 
it.  He  sprang  into  the  saddle,  galloped  all  night,  reached  the 
shore  at  daybreak,  Mbed  a  fisherman  to  take  him  acro«  the  etwrny 
sea,  and  by  whipping  and  spurring,  reached  London  thirty-six  hours 
before  anyone  else.  He  used  these  hours  in  buying  up  all  the 
stocks  he  could,  and  gained  neatly  two  miUkniKtf  pounds.  Many  on 
the  battlefield  besides  him  had  perfect  faith  in  the  good  news,  but 
their  faith  was  a  thin,  lasy  thing,  and  did  not  rouse  them  to  act  at 
once.  And  so  a  faith  that  doea  not  master  and  move  you  cannot 
make  you  rich  in  the  goods  of  the  soul.  Real  Christianity  is  a  real 
living  faith  in  a  real  living  SavitNir:  it  is  a  whole  faith  in  a  whole 
Saviour."  • 

This  story  has  clearly  lost  its  way.  It  has  strayed  out 
of  some  "How  to  Succeed"  series,  where  it  was  com- 
fortably at  home.  What  has  this  shot-proof  stock- 
broker to  do  with  the  real  Christianity  of  the  conelud- 
ing  sentence  ?  What  can  the  boy  learn  from  this  story 
but  to  despise  the  soldiers  whose  thin,  lazy  faith  did  not 
rouse  them  to  act  at  once,  and  make  a  dash  for  London 
to  scramble  for  their  share  of  those  two  millions  of 
pounds!  In  a  case  like  this  a  moral  is  needed,  as  no  one 
would  suspect  the  author's  miming  without  it.  Bat  a 
story  that  really  illustrates  does  not  require  a  formal 
moral  at  the  end.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  unneces- 
sary to  remark  that  there  is  nothing  really  disgraceful 
in  using  a  moral.   So  strong  is  the  objection  some  people 

'  BibU  Objtct  Leuons,  James  Nesbit  dc  Ck>.,  London,  1891,  p.  71. 


268  IXPOBITION  AND  ILLUBTRATIOIf  IN  TEACfllNQ 


hvn  to  thM  form  of  diroet  moral  kntraetbn  thai  they 
woykl  afaBOfll  have  us  bdieve  that  there  ia  aMMthiai 

morally  wrong  in  definitely  proclaiming  moral  truth. 
The  expression  or  suppression  of  the  moral  is  a  matter  of 
psychology,  not  of  ethics.  There  is  no  ethical  objection 
to  <Hir  urging  people  to  be  moral.  The  only  objection 
tkuA  k  valid  is  that  we  may  be  ton  aUe  to  g/Kta  our  wdi 
if  we  alienate  the  sympathy  at  our  pupils  by  boring  them 
with  the  moral  which  they  can  quite  well  draw  for  them- 
selves. The  moral  may  be  insinuated  with  much  less 
chance  of  opposition  at  the  beginning  or  in  the  course 
of  the  story.*  The  end  is  the  fatal  place,  probably  bo- 
cause  the  interest  has  naturally  run  down  just  at  this 
point.  The  formality  and  the  inevitableness  of  the 
moral  are  also  to  be  taken  into  account.  It  has  all 
the  unpleasantness  of  the  bill  that  is  presented  after 
the  feast  is  ovor.' 

The  story,  as  compared  with  the  moral,  represents 
example  as  compared  with  precept.  There  is  room  for 
both  in  teaching.  Each  has  its  special  function.  Not 
only  does  the  story  have  behind  it  all  the  influence  that 
belongs  to  imitation,  but  it  has  all  the  special  force 
that  comes  from  acting  on  one's  own  initia^ve.  If  we 
hear  a  story  and  cmrselves  make  the  necessary  apjdioa- 
tion  to  our  own  case,  we  feel  that  it  is  we  who  are  teach- 
ing ourselves  and  not  others  who  are  teaching  us. 
This  is  why  people  in  high  positions  in  ancient  times 

>  In  Section  50  of  the  Vortchule  der  Aetthetik,  Jean  Paul  Riehter 
rays :  "  .  .  .  so  wie  die  Moml  aus  der  Fabel  Mehter  jni  lieben,  ail 

die  Fabel  aus  der  Moral.  Ii  h  wOrde  daher  (auch  aus  andem  QrOndeiO 
die  Moral  vor  die  Fabcl  stellen."  We  have  here,  in  fact,  a  spedai 
case  of  the  problem  of  the  Zielangabe. 

*  With  regard  to  the  formulatioa  of  the  moml,  aw  Chapter  VI, 
p.  151. 


TBI  lIOftT  AS  ILLOmUTiOir  M 


appear  to  have  accepted  in  the  form  of  fablee  lessoxui 
that  would  have  eoaft  the  heed  of  anyone  who  dand 
to  present  them  m  the  fonn  of  pteeepte.  A  divine 
writing  in  favour  of  the  uee  of  lelifioua  eneedotea  telle 

us:  — 

"Even  though  ■Umoed,  people  are  not  readily  convinced  and 
influenced  by  mere  argument  .  .  .  narrating  an  instance  of  th* 
efTecte  of  evU  ooaduet  often  tells  more  loudly  than  a  lecture  agaiiMt 
it,  because  men  more  readily  imagine  fallacy  in  our  logic  than 
falaehoud  in  our  narrative  of  incidents,  especially  when  associated 
wHh  the  Uft  of  Mn«  notwl  individual."  * 

It  is  not  a  mattv  oi  logic  at  all,  but  of  psychology. 
We  react  differently  to  a  lesson  aeoording  as  it  is  pre- 
sented to  us  by  another  or  presented  by  ourselves  to 
ourselves.  Further,  the  association  "with  the  life  of 
some  noted  individual"  is  a  dramatic  touch,  and  has 
little  enough  to  do  with  truth  or  morality.  The  story 
of  Nathan  Rothschild  giv«i  above  would  lose  a  great 
deal  of  its  dramatic  point  if  it  were  told  merely  about 
"a  certain  financier."  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  use 
of  such  a  well-known  name  leads  to  the  very  question- 
ings that  Mr.  Macleod  would  have  us  beUeve  are 
avoided  by  attaehing  our  story  to  a  d^nite  person. 
Investigators  find  that  the  Waterloo  stwy  is  ae  false  in 
fact  aa  it  is  in  teeehing.' 

*  Norman  Islay  Macleod :  Moral  and  Rtliguma  Anecdotet,  Prefaee. 

'  Bothschild  was  in  London  when  Waterloo  was  fought.  By  means 
of  a  specially  effective  system  of  oomnmnioation  he  received  the  news 
of  the  Sunday's  battle  by  Monday  night,  and  intimated  it  to  Lord 
Liverpool  on  Tuesday  morning.  But  as  his  Lordship  had  only  a 
"  thin,  lazy  "  faith,  he  did  not  credit  the  news.  On  Tuesday  •ftereoon 
a  second  of  Rothschild's  couriers  brought  by  another  route  confirma- 
tion of  the  news;  but  Lord  Liverpool  was  still  unconvinced ;  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact  it  was  thirty  hours  after  this  second  courier  had  been 
interviewed  that  the  offioial  deqiatobss  onma  bom  WeUington  hinw 


MICROCOPY  RESOIUTION  TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


^    /APPLIED  IIVMGE  Inc 


270  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINa 

The  question  is  sometimes  asked :  What  are  the 
qualities  of  a  good  illustrative  story?  It  is  easily 
answered  in  a  negative  way  at  least :  the  good  illustra- 
tive story  must  possess  all  the  qualities  that  make  an 
ordinary  story  good.  With  advanced  classes,  illustn^ 
tive  stories  should  be  short  and  pointed  —  in  the  sense 
of  having  one  point,  not  many.  With  young  children 
it  is  wise  to  keep  in  view  the  general  experience  eflfect, 
even  when  the  story  is  being  used  for  moral  ends.  A 
certain  lavishness  is  desirable  in  story-telling  for  the 
young.  We  are  told  that  the  Fables  of  La  Fontame, 
charming  as  they  are,  still  fall  far  short  of  rousing  the 
enthusiasm  that  rewards  the  telling  of  tales  by  writers 
infinitely  inferior  to  the  French  fabulist.  The  explana- 
tion ofifered  is  that  the  fables  are  too  concise.  No 
sooner  has  the  child  warmed  up  to  his  work  than  the 
tale  has  ended.  It  is  not  so  much  that  the  child  objects 
to  the  moral  —  it  is  well  known  that  young  children 
are  themselves  somewhat  severe  moralists,  and  if  left 
to  themselves  would  supply  much  more  drastic  penalties 
than  the  ordinary  fabulist  would  sanction  —  as  that  he 
has  hardly  had  time  to  lose  himsdf  in  fable-land  bdore 
he  is  rudely  reawakened  to  the  realities  of  life.  It  is  in 
this  way  that  one  can  account  for  the  tolerance  of,  and 
even  the  preference  for,  somewhat  long  and,  to  older 
people,  rather  dreary  stories.  The  child  enjoys  the 
sustained  atmosphere  of  othw-worldliness,  and  at  the 
same  time  gains  practice  in  deiJing  ddiberately  with 

self.  Rothschild  certainly  operated  on  the  stock  exchange,  but  he  was 
far  from  keeping  his  news  a  secret.  Had  Liverpool  believed  him  at 
once,  his  Lordship  might  have  had  a  share  of  the  two  millions.  See 
an  interesting  article  by  Lucien  Wolf  in  the  Saturday  Wtttmin^ 
Oamm  (London)  tat  June  28, 190B. 


THE  STORY  AS  ILLUSTRATION 


271 


the  elements  that  make  up  the  world  of  thought, 
whether  regarded  £rom  the  point  of  view  of  imaginati<ni 

or  of  reality. 

For  this  last  reason  it  is  particularly  necessary  that  in 
the  stage  that  succeeds  the  fairy  tale  tiie  iUtuiraHve 
story  should  be  in  its  details  consistent  with  the  facts 
of  life.  The  pupil  should  be  able  to  learn  from  the 
story  in  an  indirect  way  a  great  many  facts,  and  must 
not  be  misled  by  having  impossibilities  introduced  into 
a  story  that  is  not  honestly  labelled  "marvellous." 

With  older  people,  who  can  make  the  necessary 
allowances,  liberties  may  be  Uken.  with  literal  truth, 
though  artistic  truth  must  be  preserved.  Wordsworth 
is  not  very  happy  in  his  proclamation  at  the  beginning 
of  The  Westmoreland  Girl:  — 

"  Seek  who  will  delight  in  fable, 
I  shall  tell  you  truth." 

Everything  depends  on  the  kind  of  truth  one  has  in 
view.  Some  clergymen  will  not  use  any  story  the  literal 
truth  of  which  they  cannot  vouch  for.  While  this  re- 
striction seriously  Iknits  their  resources,  it  has  the  great 
compensating  advanti^  that  it  prevents  them  from 
making  the  caricatures  of  real  life  that  pass  muster 
with  some  of  their  colleagues.  But  from  the  point  of 
view  of  teaching  there  is  nothing  against  invented  sto- 
ries, except  that  they  are  usually  very  badly  invented. 
Writers  on  the  theory  of  fiction  are  fond  of  tdling  m 
that  really  high-class  fiction  is  truer  to  life  than  the 
things  that  happen  every  day.  But  while  The  Strange 
Case  of  Dr.  J ekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde  may  be  in  one  sense  more 
true  to  life  than  many  of  the  incidents  recorded  in  our 
nuuming  paper,  it  is  not  to  wdi  suited  for  oortain  iUtuh 


272  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


trative  purposes  as  a  more  matter-of-fact  narrative. 
For  advanced  pupils  Stevenson's  story  forms  an  ad- 
mirable illustration,  since  they  can  make  abstraction  of 
the  supernatural  elements,  but  in  the  case  of  young 
pupils  the  story  is  not  suitable.  The  need  for  material 
accuracy  in  dealing  with  young  children  arises  naturally 
from  the  fact  that  the  story  in  their  case  has  to  ser/e 
the  double  function  of  illustrating  some  point  of  dis- 
course and  at  the  same  time  providing  material  and 
giving  opportunity  for  the  acquiring  of  new  experience 
of  things  in  general. 

Children  are  notoriously  fond  of  fairy  tales,  and  yet 
they  are  also  very  exacting  in  their  demand  for  truth  in 
the  stories  told  them.  There  is  no  real  contradiction 
involved.  Children  naturally  like  to  hear  of  wonderful 
things,  and  would  at  the  same  time  like  to  believe  that 
these  wonderful  things  really  happened.  Long  before 
school  age  the  child  keeps  its  fairy-tale  world  and  its 
real  world  quite  apart;  and  it  is  to  real-world  stories 
that  the  touchstone  of  truth  is  so  rigorously  applied. 
Fortunately,  at  early  stages  it  is  not  difficult  to  get  a 
suffici^t  number  of  incid^ts  from  the  expeacimce  of  the 
teacher  and  his  immediate  circle  supplemented  by 
what  is  available  in  the  way  of  printed  biography  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  case;  and  at  later  stages  the  pupils 
acquire  the  power  of  detachment  that  enables  them  to 
see  the  truth  in  an  incident  that  th^  are  not  sure  ever 
did  occur,  but  that  might  wdl  have  occurred.  It  is 
better  for  the  teacher  not  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  any 
particular  story  is  true,  as  the  main  effect  of  such  insist- 
ence is  to  make  the  children  recognise  that  all  the  other 
stories  are  not  true. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  exactly  what  degree  of  real 


THE  STORY  AS  ILLUSTRATION  273 


connection  should  be  insisted  on  between  the  story  and 
the  lesson  in  which  it  occurs;  for  the  degree  of  inge- 
nuity among  teachers  differs  so  much.  One  man  may 
introduce  ahnost  any  story  to  a  class  without  danger  of 
appearing  to  have  dragged  it  in.  Others  are  so  clumqr 
that  even  an  intrinsically  suitable  illustrative  story  has 
all  the  air  of  wondering  how  it  came  to  find  itself  there 
at  all.  I  have  on  my  bookshelves  several  volumes  of 
various  sizes  bearing  some  such  title  as  Moral  and  Reli- 
gious Aneed<de8.  Some  of  them  are  published  plain. 
They  contain  stories  and  nothing  else.  They  are 
religious  Joe  Millers,  and  that  is  all.  Others  take 
a  higher  flight  and  classify  their  contents  so  that,  if  you 
wish  to  illustrate  Spiritual  Pride,  or  Worldly  Wisdom, 
or  Backbiting,  or  Fault-finding,  all  you  have  to  do  to 
turn  up  the  alphabetical  index  under  the  proper  letter, 
and  then  select  your  story  from  those  supplied.  This 
wooden  method  appeals  to  certain  minds,  but  it  gener- 
ally results  in  pedantic  dulness.  The  illustrations  are 
technically  right.  They  do  illustrate  the  heads  under 
which  they  are  placed.  The  stories  in  thenwelves  are 
usually  at  least  moderately  interesting;  but  scmwhow 
they  seem  to  lose  their  sparkle  when  they  are  passed 
through  the  alphabetical  sieve.  A  story  that  has  entered 
the  mind  of  the  teacher  without  prejudice  and  is  there 
worked  up  into  an  illustration  is  worth  many  g^ns 
culled  from  an  alphabetical  index.  An  experienced 
trainer  of  infantHEMihool  teachers  imder  the  London 
County  Council  urges  young  teachers  never  to  use  a 
story  till  they  have  "lived  with  it  for  three  months." 

The  teacher's  wisest  course  is  to  get  his  mind  filled 
with  the  subject  he  is  to  teach,  and  then  browse  about 
ammig  all  manner  of  books,  and  mix  with  aU  manner 


274  KXPosinoN  and  illustbation  in  teaching 

of  men.  Illustrative  incidents  will  occur  in  the  most 
unexpected  places.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
mind  impoees  itself  upon  all  that  it  deals  with.  If  the 
mind  is  full  of  well-organised  masses  of  ideas  in  connec- 
tion with  a  given  subject,  it  cannot  help  fitting  all  the 
ideas  that  it  accepts  at  all  into  the  masses  that  domi- 
nate it  at  the  time. 


CHAPTER  XI 


Elabobahon 


We  have  seen  already  that  there  is  an  important  dis- 
tinction between  having  an  idea  and  realising  an  idea.* 
This  realisation  may  be  regarded  from  the  pcmt  of  vkm 
of  intensity  or  from  that  of  complication.  To  reaike 
the  idea  of  red  we  have  to  concentrate  the  consciousness 
in  such  a  way  as  to  reproduce  as  nearly  as  possible  the 
state  of  consciousness  that  accompanies  the  actual  sen- 
sation  of  red.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  ire  may  rediae 
the  idea  of  dnar^  by  lUowing  to  come  Into  the  con- 
sciousness all  the  elements  that  go  to  form  this  idea. 
When  Hobbes  calls  words  "the  counters  of  wise  men," 
he  means  that  we  can  use  words  as  a  sort  of  shorthand 
representation  of  concepts,  and  implies  that  we  are 
entitled  to  use  this  shorthand  only  on  conditicm  that 
we  are  able  to  transcribe  it  into  longhand  whenever 
we  are  called  upon  to  do  so.  In  ordinary  speech  we 
use  words  representing  such  complex  ideas  as  church, 
money,  bimetallism,  without  at  the  moment  of  using 
the  wmda  bringing  into  consdousness  more  than  an  in- 
finiteramal  part  of  what  the  wends  reaUy  imply.  It  is 
assumed,  however,  that  if  called  upon  we  could  set  forth 
in  detail  all  the  elements  that  make  up  the  complex  idea 
we  are  dealing  with. 

It  is  true  that  very  often  when  we  proceed  to  elabo- 

*  See  p.  72 
S7i 


276  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

.  rate  the  full  meaning  of  a  particular  idea  we  find  that  it 
does  not  by  any  means  contain  all  that  we  expected. 
We  go  through  the  world  largely  on  the  credit  of  a  ful- 
ness of  knowledge  that  is  not  there.  One  of  the  main 
purposes  of  the  Socnttic  dialectic  was  to  expose  this 
ideational  bankruptcy.  Idea  after  idea  wap  examined. 
The  interlocutor  was  invited  to  elaboratr  as  far  as 
he  could  ;  and  the  result  was  nearly  alw  that  great 
gaps  were  exposed.  When  a  pupil  sits  down  to  write  an 
essay,  he  is  really  entering  upon  an  exercise  in  elabora- 
tion. In  fact,  in  the  schools  there  is  a  recognised  exer- 
cise under  the  name.  The  pupil  is  given  a  more  or  less 
pregnant  sentence  and  is  called  upon  to  bring  out  all  its 
implications.  When  Dr.  Arnold  invited  his  pupils  to 
write  on  The  Difference  between  Advantages  and  MeriU, 
he  really  called  upon  th«n  to  allow  their  id^s  on  those 
subjects  to  develop  themselves,  and  then  to  compare 
and  contrast  the  results.  For  this  development  time 
must  be  allowed,  so  thinking  at  this  level  must  be  slow. 

There  is  naturally  a  very  great  gain  in  being  able  to  do 
our  thinkmg  on  the  Hobbes  credit  qrstem.  If  we  regard 
thinking  as  the  adapting  of  means  to  ends  on  the  idea- 
tional plane,  it  follows  that,  if  we  can  get  at  our  ends 
without  developing  the  content  of  each  idea  as  it  oc- 
curs, we  effect  a  great  saving.  So  long  as  we  are  work- 
ing below  the  Inference  Point  there  is  obviously  no  need 
to  get  small  change  for  our  ideas.  In  matters  that 
fall  below  our  Inference  Point  the  ideas  are  so  welded 
together  in  causal  relations  that  we  cannot  use  them 
amiss  without  rousmg  certain  oppositions  that  at  once 
come  into  consciousness,  and  raise  the  whole  subject 
up  to  the  Inference  Point,  and  therefore  secure  the  neces- 
sary investigation.  Obviously,  if  we  had  to  allow  each 


ILABORATION 


277 


idea  to  elaborate  itself  every  time  we  used  it,  ftiinlrlng 
would  become  impossible.  Even  at  the  Inference  Point 
we  do  not  require  to  make  a  complete  elaboration  of 
the  relevant  ideas :  all  that  is  necessary  is  that  we  should 
arrange  them  so  that  their  potentialitke  shall  be  awak- 
ened, and  raised  to  the  intensity  necessary  to  keep  them 
in  the  subconscious  state.  When  this  has  been  accom- 
plished, all  our  mental  content  that  is  relevant  to  the 
subject  under  discussion  is  in  an  excited  state,  so  that 
any  attempt  to  make  a  combination  inconsistent  with 
existing  combinations  will  be  at  once  chtcked  by  the 
rising  into  consciousness  of  the  relevant  existing  c<nnbi- 
nation  and  the  consequent  oppoution  to  the  fnropoe^  i 
combination. 

It  is  not  till  we  have  reached  the  Gaping  Point  that 
it  becomes  necessary  to  allow  every  rdevant  idea  to 
elaborate  itself  to  its  fullest  extent,  so  as  to  bring  into 
the  arena  ail  the  elements  that  can  by  any  possibility 
have  anyt*'5ng  to  do  with  the  problem.  In  this  way 
we  give  <  a  chance  of  making  the  combination 

that  wiL  .     :  ^  the  unorganised  mass  to  order. 

A  special  Jund  ei  daboration  is  that  idiidi  takes  the 
form  of  turning  every  sort  of  idea  that  will  admit  of  it 
into  some  species  of  picture.  Many  people  are  unable 
to  carry  on  their  thinking  at  all  without  the  aid  of  some 
sort  of  pictorial  representation.  The  mental  pro- 
cesses of  such  people  may  be  compared  to  the  little 
retail  businesses  conducted  by  petty  traders,  all  of  ^oee 
financial  transactions  are  carried  on  by  means  of  coins 
of  small  denominations.  This  small-change  type  of 
thinking  is  regarded  with  great  contempt  by  some  of 
the  professional  philosophers.  Dr.  Hutcliison  Stirling, 
for  example,  is  voy  bitter  <m  the  subject. 


278  EXPOSmOlf  AKD  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TIAOHOIO 


"Now  it  ii  this  aasociation  of  ideu  that  oooititutM  thou^t  to 
most  of  us — a  blind,  instinctiiw  seoution  of  a  misoellaneous  multi- 
tude of  unverified  individuals.  These  individuab  are  Voretellungen, 
figurate  conceptions  —  Ideas  —  crass,  emblematic  bodies  of  thoughts 
rather  than  thoughts  themselves.  Then  the  process  itself,  as  a 
wh(de,  u  also  nameable  Vnrstellung  in  general.  An  example 
perhaps  will  illustrate  this.  'God  might  have  thrown  into  space  a 
single  germ*ceU  from  which  all  that  we  see  now  might  have  developed 
itself.'  .  .  .  What  is  invdved  in  this  writing  is  not  thought  but 
Vorstellung.  In  the  quotation  indeed  there  are  mainly  three  Vor- 
stellungen  —  Qod,  Space,  and  a  Qerm-cell.  Now  with  these  ele- 
ments the  writer  of  this  particular  sentence  conceives  himself  to 
think  1  beginning.  To  take  all  back  to  God,  Space,  and  a  single 
Qerm-oell,  that  is  enough  for  him  and  his  necessities  of  thought ; 
that  to  him  is  to  look  at  the  thought  beginniny  sufficiently  closely. 
But  all  these  three  elements  are  already  complete  and  self -dependent, 
—  God,  one  Vorstellung,  finished,  ready-made,  complete  by  itself, 
takes  up  a  Germ-cell,  another  Vorstellung,  finished,  ready-made, 
complete  by  itself,  and  drops  it  into  Space,  a  third  Vorstellung 
finished,  ready-made,  complete  by  itself.  This  done  —  without 
transition,  without  explanation,  the  rest  (by  the  way  another 
Vbntellung)  follows:  and  thus  we  have  three  elements  with  no 
beginning  —  at  the  same  time  that  we  have  four  with  no  transi- 
tion —  but  the  fiat  of  the  writer.  This,  then,  is  not  thought,  but  an 
idle  misspending  of  the  time  with  empty  pictures."  * 

We  need  not  take  this  diatribe  too  seriously.  As  to 
''thinking  a  beginning,"  Dr.  Stirling  is  no  doubt  right. 
This  demands  Hib  higjiest  d^;ree  of  abstraetion.  But 
there  is  a  place  for  figurative  thinking  as  well.  A  little 
further  on  in  the  Preface  Dr.  Stirling  himself,  re- 
luctantly, it  is  true,  and  within  brackets,  but  still  quite 
clearly,  admits  that  there  is  another  side :  "  (We  shall 
see  a  side  again  where  our  abstractions  are  to  be  re- 
dipped  in  the  concrete,  in  order  to  be  restored  to  truth; 


*  Preface  to  the  origiiial  edition  ci  Th$  Secret  0/  Hegel,  p.  xl  (ed. 
1898). 


■LABOEATICm 


379 


but  the  contradiction  is  only  apparent)."  Even  the 
playing  with  pictures  is  far  from  being  an  idle  mis- 
spending of  time.  At  oertain  ftaiw  and  in  eertain  011b- 
jects  pictorial  thinking  has  a  useful  function.  Why 
need  the  pictures  be  empty  ?  Here  is  what  a  French 
philosopher  has  to  say  on  the  other  side:  — 

" '  Picturing  is  not  reasoning '  [Image  n'eri  paa  raiaon]  people  some- 
times say.  This  is  a  great  mistake.  There  is  nothing  more  lucid, 
more  enlightening  [explicaHf]  than  certain  images.  One  is  sure  of 
having  an  idea  that  is  truly  intelligible  when  one  is  able  actually 
to  conceive  it,  that  is  lo  say,  to  bring  it  back  to  an  intuition  or  a 
representatiim.  To  trsnslste  an  afattimet  idM  into  inufM  b  to 
prove  that  it  can  be  resolved  into  poaitive  ooooq^ioiM.  TUt  k  to 
make  it  seen,  touched,  understood."  * 

Herbert  Spencer  clearly  believes  that  all  our  thinking 
is  figurative,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  following 

passage: — 

"  As  we  do  not  thmk  in  generals  but  in  particulars  —  as,  when- 
ever any  class  of  things  is  referred  to,  we  represent  it  to  oundTM 
by  calling  to  mind  indivtddal  ezampka  of  it.  .  . 

It  is  certainly  too  strong  to  say  that  we  never  think 
in  generals,  but  the  possibility  of  thinking  in  generals 
in  no  way  militates  against  the  contention  of  Souriau 
and  Spencer  that  we  can  and  do  think  by  means  of 
images.  Even  in  Hie  case  of  those  who  deny  tiiat  th^ 
have  any  power  of  forming  mental  imagery,  it  is  prob- 
able that  imagery  of  some  sort  is  present.  Speaking 
of  the  loss  among  scientific  men  of  the  power  of  visual 
representation,  Mr.  Francis  Galton  tells  us:  — 

"The  highest  minds  are  probably  those  in  which  it  is  not  lost, 
but  BubOTdinatod^  and  is  ready  for  uM<mitdtafaieoeoa^(mi.  lam, 

*  FmiI  Souiiiu:  £a  SvgguHm  dcnw  fAri,  p.  288. 

*  B*$afft,  stmeotyped  edition,  1868,  Y<d.  II,  p.  15. 


280  mOilllON  AMD  ULUfnUTlOlf  IN  TSAOHIIfO 


however,  bound  to  say,  that  the  miising  faouHy  Mem  to  be  »• 
placed  iO  aervioeably  by  other  modes  of  etmoeption,  chiefly,  I 
believe,  connected  with  the  incipient  motor  senae,  not  of  the  eyebaUa 
only,  but  of  the  muscles  generally,  that  men  who  declare  thtsmeelvee 
eotirrijr  defleient  in  the  power  of  seeing  mental  piotum  eaa  iiever> 
theless  give  life-like  (fescrintiona  of  what  they  have  seen,  and  can 
otherwise  express  themselves  as  if  they  were  gifted  with  a  vivid 
visual  imagination.  Iliey  can  also  become  paintm  of  the  rank  of 
Royal  AcademidMie."  * 

There  may  not,  therefore,  be  the  fundamental  differ- 
ence that  Dr.  Hutchison  Stirling  would  have  us  believe 
between  his  thinking  and  that  carried  on  by  the  ordi- 
nary person.  For  us  the  important  point  at  present  is 
that  some  kind  of  imagery  is  of  the  very  easenoe  of  miu- 
trattoQ.  Many  peoi^e,  alter  hearing  a  purely  abstract 
stateir  snt  of  some  argument,  are  quite  at  a  loss  till  they 
have  translated  it  into  a  series  of  pictures.  Some  of 
my  friends  in  the  philosophical  faculty  begin  each  new 
session  with  the  resolve  that  they  will  approach  meta- 
physics in  a  more  jooncrete  way.  Their  experioiee  is 
that  the  students  can  undnstand  each  of  the  paragraphs 
by  itself,  but  that  because  of  the  total  lack  of  unagery 
they  cannot  grasp  the  subject  of  a  lecture  as  a  whole. 
The  practical  teacher  is  much  more  safe  with  an  excess 
on  the  side  of  the  concrete.  Bnt  a  caution  is  not  pet- 
haps  out  of  place  at  this  point.  In  the  sduMlroom 
so  many  caveats  are  entered  against  the  abstract  that 
among  our  younger  teachers  who  have  had  some  theoreti- 
cal training  there  is  a  tendency  to  regard  the  abstract 
as  something  in  itself  to  be  avoided.  Certainly  we 
must  begin  with  the  concrete.  There  is  very  gmeral 
agreement  with  the  formula:  From  the  concrete  to  tlM 

>  Inquiries  into  Human  FaeuUg  and  itt  DnelopwmO,  Evtrymm't 
lOnrn,  p.  61. 


ELABORATION 


281 


abstract.  But  after  all,  thid  places  the  abstract  in  the 
honourable  position  of  being  the  goal  of  our  teaching. 
The  trammels  of  the  concrete  must  be  thrown  off,  so 
that  our  pupils  may  enter  the  freer  medium  of  the 
abstoMt.  Further,  th*aro  mutt  be  no  divorce  be- 
tween the  two.  The  abetiact  must  be  always  capable 
of  being  expressed  in  tei^ins  of  the  concrete.  There 
are  occasions,  of  course,  on  which  the  introduction 
of  the  concrete  only  clogs  the  wheels  of  thought, 
but  there  are  others  in  which  the  abstract  thinker 
is  saved  from  error  by  continual  reference  to  the 
concrete. 

The  element  of  time  has,  of  course,  to  be  taken  into 
account.  We  sometimes  hear  such  phrases  as  "with 
the  swiftness  of  thought,"  and  some  people  appear  to 
believe  that  thought  takee  no  time  at  all.  All  thmking 
takes  an  appneiabh  time,  but  the  kind  that  beet  d»> 
serves  the  rank  of  being  a  standard  of  speed  is  the 
that  does  not  hamper  itself  with  images.  To  carry 
on  a  train  of  thought  by  means  of  imagery  demands 
quite  a  considerable  time.  Still,  the  unportant  qucijdnn 
is  whether  this  time  is  wasted  or  well  wpeiu. 

The  struggle  between  the  abstraet  ana  i'M  concrete 
becomes  acute  in  discussions  concerning  the  teaching  erf 
arithmetic.  Some  teachers  regard  the  abacus  with 
suspicion,  and  look  askance  at  all  the  infant  school 
paraphernalia  of  beans  and  balls  and  bricks.  They 
are  afraid  that  diildren  will  acquire  the  concrete  habit, 
and  will  go  through  life  on  the  bean  level  of  calculation. 
In  the  case  of  "fingering"  there  is  certainly  a  danger 
from  the  fatal  convenience  of  this  means  of  counting, 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  child  soon  tires  of  the  limita- 
tions imposed  by  the  beans  and  bricks,  and  seeks  the 


282  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


freedom  of  abstraction  as  soon  as  he  finds  that  he  can 
calculate  without  them.  In  arithmetic  we  need  never 
want  to  get  beyond  the  concrete  in  applying  its  prin- 
ciples. Teachers  are  too  apt  to  r^^ard  arithmetic  as 
something  important  by  itself ;  to  take  the  view  of  the 
mathematical  savant  who  rejoiced  that  a  certain  theo- 
rem he  had  promulgated  could  not  be  used  for  anything 
practical.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  arithmetic 
is  only  a  particulariy  abstract  way  of  regarding  common 
things.  The  danger  of  excessive  abstractness  is  no- 
where better  illustrated  than  in  those  sections  of  our 
arithmetic  text-books  that  elaborate  certain  rules  for 
dealing  with  particular  classes  of  concrete  matters. 
Stocks  and  shares  are  marked  off  from  mere  percentages, 
and  weird  headings  such  as  Alligation  are  used  to  keep 
certain  matters  in  their  special  corner.  The  same  sort 
of  thing  began  in  algebra  text-books,  but  has  fortunately 
had  rather  a  set-back  of  late.  The  requirements  of 
examinations  made  it  worth  the  speciaUst's  while  to 
classify  the  sort  of  problems  set,  and  we  were  b^^inning 
to  have  "rules"  for  clock  problons,  hare  and  hound 
problems,  bath  problems,  age  problems.  Fortunately, 
teachers  are  realising  that  this  is  carrying  abstraction 
too  far.  The  rule  must  not  be  regarded  as  a  means  of 
saving  all  thought  with  regard  to  the  matter  to  which 
it  is  to  be  applied.  The  place  of  the  abstract  is  between 
the  stating  of  the  equation  and  its  solution.  It  must 
begin  with  the  concrete,  and  at  the  end  it  must  square 
its  results  with  the  concrete.  In  the  middle  of  the 
working  of  the  problem  we  cannot  say  what  relation 
35  u 

has  to  the  hands  of  a  clock,  but  so  soon  as  the 
operator  rises  again  to  the  "answor"  we  are  once  mcne 


BLABOBATION 


in  the  region  of  the  concrete,  and  our  results  must 
stand  the  test  ol  oomparison  with  the  concrete. 

It  must  not  be  forgottoi  that  thinkers  who  are  able 
to  soar  into  the  emps^rean  of  the  Hutchison  Stirling 
abstractions  have  gained  their  power  of  flight  by 
mastering  the  relevant  concrete,  and  that  the  results  of 
their  high  thinking  must  at  least  not  contradict  the 
concrete  itself,  though  it  need  not  be  conaist«it  with  the 
quasi-abstract  views  that  the  Iea9  free  thinkers  obtain 
by  the  help  of  Vorstellungen.  The  teacher  very  often 
occupies  the  position  of  the  abstract  thinker  who  has 
reached  a  certain  conclusion  that  he  can  help  his  pupil 
to  reach  only  by  the  aid  of  certun  figurate  conceptions. 
The  development  of  Vorstdlungen  in  the  mind  natu- 
rally takes  time,  but  the  time  is  not  necessarily  wasted. 
From  the  figures  the  mind  of  the  pupil  may  rise  to  a 
complete  understanding  of  the  underlj-ing  principle,  and 
so  secure  his  freedom.  But  while  we  are  at  the  figurate 
stage  it  is  necessary  to  go  at  an  appropriate  pace. 
We  must  hasten  slowly,  in  order  that  we  may  get  the 
full  advantage  of  the  stage  at  which  our  pupil  stands. 
We  must  allow  ideas  to  elaborate  themselves  so  that  the 
full  content  may  be  examined.  Very  often  illustration 
consists  of  nothing  else  than  giving  complex  ideas  a 
chance  to  develop  in  consciousnen  in  a  natural  waj. 
Some  pupils  may  be  unable  to  undontand  an  explana- 
tion that  the  majority  of  their  class-mates  have  found 
to  be  perfectly  clear.  Before  seeking  out  some  new 
form  of  statement  it  is  often  well  to  see  what  can  be 
done  by  getting  the  pupils  to  allow  the  ideas  represented 
by  the  words  used  in  ihe  »planati<m  to  devdop  th«B- 
selves  in  their  consciousness.  When  each  of  the  ideas 
concerned  is  allowed  to  devdop  its  impUoations,  it 


284  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHING 

results  that  certain  relations  become  manifest  that 
would  otherwise  have  remained  hidden. 
Minds  differ  greatly  in  their  power  to  give  ideas  a 

chance  to  develop  their  implications.  Too  often  what 
happens  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  allow  an  idea  to 
unfold  its  meaning  is  that  at  the  second  or  third  remove 
from  the  surface  meaning  the  consciousness  is  switched 
off  into  some  other  series  of  ideas  connected  by  a  more 
or  less  loose  bond  of  association  with  the  initial  idea. 
What  Professor  Stout  calls  "psychic  fringes"'  have  to 
be  taken  account  of  here.  Each  idea  has  its  nwn  fringe, 
and  when  several  ideas  are  being  developed  at  once  there 
is  a  certain  amount  of  interference  caused  by  these 
fringes.  Sometimes  the  struggle  of  the  various  fringes 
is  so  keen  that  further  development  is  impossible,  and 
some  entirely  new  idea  through  a  side  association  slips 
its  way  into  the  consciousness  and  drives  out  the  ideas 
that  have  been  trying  to  develop  themselves.  It  is 
necessary,  therefore,*  that  the  teacher  should  be  ready 
with  some  help  to  the  particular  ideas  he  wishes  to  be 
allowed  to  develop.  Sometimes,  indeed,  it  comes  about 
that  the  mere  enumeration  by  the  teacher  of  the  ele- 
ments of  a  compound  conception  may  be  helpful  to  a 
certain  class  of  mind.  Many  of  our  best  writers  illus- 
trate this  need  by  the  construction  of  their  paragraphs. 
The  first  sentence  enunciates  the  real  substan(%  of  the 
paragraph;  all  the  rest  is  an  elaboration  of  the  mean- 
ing contained  in  that  first  sentence.  When  Macaulay 
has  said  of  Horace  Walpole:  "The  conformation  of  his 
mind  was  such  that  whatever  was  little  seoned  to  him 
great,  and  whatever  was  great  seemed  to  him  little, "  he 
has  given  us  the  whole  substance  of  the  partgn^  that 

>  Analfftieal  P^dMsgy,  Vol.  I,  p.  82  ff. 


ELABOBATION 


285 


the  sentence  introduces.  Yet  when  we  turn  to  the  elabo- 
ration of  the  idea  as  contained  in  the  rest  of  the  para- 
graph, we  realise  that  we  understand  it  in  a  much  fuller 
sense  than  we  did  before  we  had  read  the  whole  para* 

graph:  — 

"...  Serious  business  was  a  trifle  to  him,  and  trifles  were  his 
serious  business.  To  chat  with  bluenstockings,  to  write  little  copies 
of  complimentary  venes  on  little  occanons,  to  supwintend  a  private 
press,  to  preserve  from  natural  decay  the  perishable  topics  of  Rane- 
lagh  and  White's,  to  record  divorces  and  bets,  Miss  Chudleigh's  ab- 
surdities and  George  Selwyn's  good  sayings,  to  decorate  a  grotesque 
house  with  pie-crust  battlements,  to  procure  rare  engravings  and 
antique  chimney-boards,  to  match  odd  gauntlets,  to  lay  out  a  maze 
of  walks  within  five  acres  of  ground,  these  were  the  grave  employ- 
ments of  his  long  life.  From  these  he  turned  to  politics  as  to  an 
amusement.  A  her  the  labours  of  the  print-shop  and  the  auction 
room,  he  unbent  his  mind  in  the  House  of  Commons.  And  having 
indulged  in  the  leOTeation  ct  making  laws  and  voting  millions, 
he  returned  to  more  important  pursuits,  to  researches  after  Queen 
Mary's  comb,  Wolsey's  red  hat,  the  pipe  which  Van  Tromp  smoked 
during  his  last  sea-fii^t,  and  the  spur  wfaidi  Bong  WiBiam  stnick 
into  the  flank  ot  Smrel." 

Obviously  the  specific  cases  in  which  Walpole  exempli- 
fies the  weakness  with  which  he  is  charged  in  the  first 
sentence  form  legitimate  illustrations  of  the  theme. 
In  such  a  case  the  expositor  is  assumed  to  have  know- 
ledge of  certain  facts  that  may  not  be  in  the  poessesnon 
of  the  pupil.  Sometimes  daborati<m  talrae  the  form  of 
merely  setting  forth  in  a  vivid  way  certain  aspects  of  the 
original  statement.  This  presentatio:i  does  not  imply 
any  special  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  illustrator. 
Any  of  his  readers  may  do  the  same  for  themselves  from 
the  matoiat  suiqdied,  if  only  tbiey  have  imagination 
enougli.  Sir  A.CoiianDoyleha8ane»)dlentiM88age* 


286  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


that  exemplifies  both  these  forms  of  elaboration.  The 
narrator  of  the  story  wishes  to  convey  an  idea  of  what 
the  Napoleonic  wars  really  meant  to  England.  He 
begins  by  a  reference  to  his  father:  — 

"When  he  died  we  had  been  fighting  with  scarce  a  break,  save 
only  during  two  short  years,  for  very  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Think  of  it,  you  who  live  so  quietly  and  peacefully  now  I  Babies 
who  were  born  in  the  war  grew  to  be  bearded  men  with  babies  of 
their  own,  and  still  the  war  continued.  Those  who  had  served  and 
fought  in  their  stalwart  prime  grew  stiff  and  bent,  and  yet  the  ships 
and  the  armies  were  struggling.  It  was  no  wonder  that  folk  came 
at  last  to  look  upon  it  as  the  natural  state,  and  thought  how  queer  it 
must  seem  to  be  at  peace." 

Down  to  this  point  the  author  is  simply  working  out 
in  a  vivid  way  conceptions  that  anyone  with  a  keen 
appreciation  of  the  situation  could  elaborate  for -him- 
self from  the  data  assumed.  This  is  a  form  of  elabora- 
tion that  is  of  special  value  in  the  schoolroom.  The 
rest  of  the  paragraph  proceeds  on  the  ordinary  line  of 
elaboration  that  adds  new  matter  while  illustrating  the 
main  point. 

"During  that  long  time  we  fought  the  Dutch,  we  fought  the 
Danes,  we  fought  the  Spanish,  we  fought  the  Turks,  we  fought  the 
Americans,  we  fought  the  Monte-Videans,  until  it  seemed  that  in 
this  universal  struggle  no  race  was  too  near  of  kin,  or  too  far  away,  to 
be  drawn  into  the  quarrel.  But  most  <rf  all  it  was  the  Frendi  whcxn 
we  fought,  and  the  man  whom  of  all  others  we  loathed  and  feared 
and  admired  was  the  great  Captain  who  ruled  thera." 

There  is  a  still  easier  form  of  elaboration  that  con- 
fines itself  to  simple  Enumeration  of  elements  that  are 
implicit  in  the  original  conception,  and  could  be  supplied 
by  the  most  ordinary  listens  or  reader.  No  spiacial 
keenness  of  observation,  no  gift  of  imagination,  is  re- 
quired. We  have  seen  tiiat  suggwtion  acts  instantane- 


ELABORATION 


287 


ously  in  recalling  all  tiiere  is  to  recall  of  a  given  whole. 

The  poet  makes  his  suggestion,  appeals  to  his  reader, 
and  leaves  the  rest  to  him.  That  is,  the  ordinary  poet 
does  this.  For  there  is  an  extraordinary  class  of  popis 
who  seek  to  save  their  readers  time  and  trouble  by 
enumerating  in  detail  all  the  dements  that  are  implicit 
in  the  ideas  suggested  in  a  poem.  Walt  Whitman  is  a 
notorious  sinner  in  this  way.  He  is  preeminently  the 
poet  of  the  catalogue.  He  wishes,  for  example,  to 
emphasise  the  very  common  feeling  thav  occasionally 
occurs  to  all  of  us  of  the  variety  of  experiences  that  are 
going  on  at  every  moment  of  every  day.  Accordinj^y, 
he  selects  the  probable  conditions  and  doings  of  all  the 
sailors  of  the  globe.  He  gives  a  long  catalogue,  that 
reads  like  a  quotation  from  a  gazetteer,  of  the  places 
where  sailors  are  likely  to  bo  found,  and  another  of  the 
sort  of  things  they  are  likely  to  be  doing.  The  nature 
of  the  list  may  be  inferred  from  the  concluding  line: — 

"Some  with  infectious  diseases." 

Lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  this  description  is  e:;- 
aggerated,  it  may  be  well  to  quote  one  of  the  poet's 
catalogues.  This  time  he  wishes  us  to  realise  the  great 
variety  of  things  that  may  be  made  out  of  wood,  ..nd 
helps  our  jaded  imagination  with  the  following  inven- 
tory:— 

"The  axe  leaps  1 
The  solid  forest  gives  fluid  uttorancfls, 

They  tumble  forth,  they  rise  and  torm, 

Hut,  tent,  landing,  survey. 

Flail,  plough,  pick,  crowbar,  spade, 

Shingle,  rail,  prop,  wainscot,  jamb,  latii,  panel,  gable, 

Citadel,  ceiling,  saloon,  academv,  organ,  exhibition-house,  library, 

Cornice,  trellis,  pilaster,  balcony,  window,  turret,  porch. 


288  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


Hoe,  rake,  pitchfork,  pencil,  waoon,  itaff,  saw,  jadc-plane,  maOet, 

wedge,  rouoce, 
Chwr,  tub,  hoop,  taUe,  wicket,  vane,  sash,  floor, 
Workboz,  ebeet,  string'd  instrumnit,  boat,  frame,  and  -jriiat-not." ' 

Contrast  this  crude  catalogue  with  the  following 
lines  in  which  TennjTson  apostrophises  the  vessel  that  is 
bringing  home  the  remains  of  his  fri^d:  — 

"I  hear  the  noise  about  thy  keel; 

I  hear  the  bell  struck  in  the  night: 
I  see  the  calMn-window  bright ; 
I  see  the  sailor  at  the  wheel. 

Thou  bring'st  the  sailor  to  his  wife, 

And  travcll'd  men  from  foreign  lands; 
And  letters  unto  trembling  hands; 

And,  thy  dark  frei^t,  a  vansh'd  life."  * 

Here  the  reader  gets  real  help  from  the  elaboration. 
After  reading  the  lines  he  has  a  better  picture  of  the 
whole  scene  than  he  had  before.  The  poet  has  selected 
the  most  effective  elements  in  the  night  scene.  The 
"bell  struck  in  the  night"  appeals  to  all,  as  is  shown 
by  the  effect  it  produces  when  used  on  the  stage,  while 
the  '*cabin-window  bright"  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
sights  at  sea,  even  though  it  did  annoy  Kiplmg's  tramp 
captain. 

It  may  be  said  that  Whitman  should  not  be  compared 
with  Tennyson  but  with  Homer,  whose  catalogues  of 
ships  and  states  and  heroes  may  appear  to  give  some 
justification  to  the  modmi  maker  of  poetical  catalogues. 
There  were,  however,  more  than  merely  rhetorical  rea- 
sons for  the  appearance  of  these  lists  in  Homer's  pages, 
though  it  must  be  admitted  that  they  also  served  rhe- 

'  Song  of  the  Broad- Axe  from  Leave*  ^  Oraaa. 
*  In  Memariam,  X. 


ELABORATION 

torieal  ends  and  served  them  well.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  love  of  lists  is  charaeteristic  <A  primitive 
writing,  and  that  this  same  love  u  also  apparent  among 
yoimg  children.  Ahnoet  every  successful  writer  for  little 
children  uses  the  artifice  of  elaborating  in  this  more  or 
les'^  arithmetical  way  all  ideas  that  lend  themselves  to 
it.  PasBagea  like  the  following  are  common  in  books 
for  the  young: — 

"PnfaapB  you  do  not  believe  in  fairiesi  Ah,  well,  I  am  sony 

for  you.  I  believe  in  them,  in  every  one  of  them  —  gnomes  und 
sylphs,  and  fays  and  sprites,  and  elves  and  goblins  —  yes,  even  in 
oucIms— though  some  d<m't.  nwrel  Whatdoyouthinlcof  that?"' 

It  is  easy  to  see  why  young  people  should  find  a  sat- 
isfaction in  enumerating  the  content  of  a  given  idea. 
The  elonrats  have  not  yet  had  time  to  grow  scale  to  the 
young  mind.  There  is,  further,  the  sense  of  power 
implied  in  the  setting  forth  of  the  contents  of  the  mei*tal 
treasure-house.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten — and  the 
consideration  is  not  quite  irrelevant  to  our  presei^t 
purpose  —  that  the  sense  of  rhythm  involved  in  the 
enumnation  of  the  elements  is  a  source  of  keen  satirfao- 
tion  to  the  young,  and  is  not  without  its  attraction  for 
the  adult.  The  following  example  of  illustrative  enu- 
meration from  Dickens  exemplifies  at  once  the  charm  of 
rhythm  and  the  rhetorical  value  of  this  form  of  elabora- 
tion. The  purpose  is  to  throw  discredit  on  the  kind  of 
trainmg  provided  for  elementary  teachers  m  Enfl^d. 
The  method  is  to  elaborate  the  mental  content  of  what 
is  assumed  to  be  a  typical  elementary  schoolmaster. 
The  selected  type  is  named  M'Choakumchild,  and 
this  is  how  the  elaboration  is  carried  out:  — 

»  Rev.  J.  R.  Howatt:  The  Children' a  Pulpit,  p.  270. 

V 


290  BZPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


"He  and  some  one  hundred  and  forty  other  schoolmasters  had 
been  lately  turned  at  the  same  time,  in  the  same  factory,  on  the 
same  principles,  like  so  many  pianoforte  legs.  He  had  been  put 
throu^  an  immenfe  variety  of  paces,  and  had  answered  volames  td 
bead-breaking  questions.  Orthography,  etymology,  syntax,  and 
prosody,  biography,  astronomy,  geography,  and  general  cosmog- 
raphy, the  scwnoes  of  compound  proportion,  algebra,  bod-sur- 
veying and  levelling,  vocal  music,  and  drawing  from  models 
were  all  at  the  ends  of  his  ten  chilled  fingers.  He  had  worked  his 
stony  way  into  Her  Majesty's  Most  Honourable  Privy  Council's 
Schedule  B,  and  had  taken  the  bloom  off  the  higher  branches  of 
mathematics  and  phjrsical  science,  French,  German,  Latin,  and 
Greek.  He  knew  all  about  all  the  watersheds  of  all  the  world 
(whatever  they  are),  and  all  the  histories  of  all  the  peoples,  and  all 
the  names  of  all  the  rivers  and  mountains,  and  all  the  productions, 
manners,  and  customs  of  all  the  countries,  and  all  their  boundaries 
and  bearings  on  the  two-and-thirty  points  of  the  compass.  Aht 
rather  overdone,  M'Choakumchild.  If  he  had  only  learnt  a  little 
less,  how  infinitely  better  he  might  have  taught  much  more."  * 

As  rhetoric  this  is  somewhat  unfair,  but  very,  very  ef- 
fective. Dickens  was  not  an  expert  reporter  for  nothing, 
and  a  better  example  of  deliberately  inflated  English  it 
would  be  hard  to  find.  It  is  notable  that  logic  does  not 
appear  among  the  subjects,  so  the  assaulted  M'Choak- 
umchild is  supposed  to  have  been  too  busy  with  general 
cosmography  to  have  had  time  to  learn  of  an  interest- 
ing little  fallacy  called  the  thaumatrope.  At  any  rate, 
Dickens  goes  on  using  his  material  over  and  over  again, 
as  if  his  readers  had  never  heard  of  Mr.  Caudle's  five- 
pound  note.  At  the  simple,  yet  in  this  case  magical, 
word  grammar,  four  of  the  most  appalling  words  on  the 
list  collapse,  while  the  commonplace  word  geography 
shrivels  up  nearly  all  that  is  left  of  the  bubble.  Yet 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  grammar  and  geography 

<  Hard  Times,  Book  I,  Chap.  II. 


■LABORATIOH 


291 


do  include  the  elements  he  mumerstes,  and  so  those 
subjects  are  made  to  appear  by  the  mere  proeess  of 
elaboration,  and  the  skilful  repetition  of  the  UtUe  word 
aU,  as  something  peculiarly  pretentious  and  unneces- 
sary. Dickens  has  here  a  clearly  defined  point  of  view, 
and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  has  admirably  illus- 
trated it. 

This  illustiative  enumeration  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  that  form  of  illustration  that  consists  in  presenting 
a  great  series  of  diflferent  complex  conceptions,  each  of 
which  has  some  element  common  to  all  the  others.  It 
is  not  a  process  of  analysing  out  the  conmnon  element  in 
a  number  of  cases  and  so  coming  to  an  understanding  of 
the  principle  to  be  illustrated.  When  we  heap  figure 
upon  figure  to  get  the  cumulative  effect  of  recognising 
the  same  element  in  many  different  environments,  we 
enrich  the  conception  by  demonstrating  how  widely 
it  may  be  applied  When  Bums  gives  us  his  series  of 
figures  illustrating  the  teansitwy  nature  of  fdeasures: — 

"But  pleasures  are  like  poppies  spread, 

You  seize  the  flow'r,  its  bloom  is  shed; 

Or  like  the  snowfalls  in  the  river, 

A  moment  white  —  tLen  melts  for  ever; 

Or  like  the  boreaSs  race, 

That  flit  ere  you  can  point  their  plaoe; 

Or  like  the  rainbow's  lovely  form 

Evanishiiig  amid  the  storm." ' 

we  feel  that  the  work  of  realising  these  fine  figures  is 
thrown  upon  us,  and  that  the  result  is  an  intensified 
awareness  of  the  fleetingness  of  human  delights.  This 
is  produced  by  the  fusion  of  the  common  element  in  the 
different  cases.  The  concrete  setting  of  each  of  the 
>raNie'i8Aaai0r,59-4M. 


292  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TIAOHINQ 

figunt  perfonnt  the  aune  function,  and  these  set- 
tings must  therefore  be  regarded  as  falling  under  one 

category.  Consequently  they  have  to  be  treated  as 
contrary  ideas  which  arrest  each  other  and  thus  leave 
the  common  elements  free  to  coalesce. 

In  enumeration,  on  the  other  hand,  the  predominant 
force  at  work  is  that  of  complication,  though  this  pro- 
cess must  be  regarded  from  two  points  of  view,  accord- 
ing as  we  deal  with  the  pupil's  share  m  the  work  or  the 
teacher's.  Considered  from  the  pupil's  standpoint, 
elaboration  consists  in  the  breakmg  up  of  a  complex  into 
its  elements.  From  the  teacher's  standpoint  it  consists 
in  supplying  a  large  number  of  dmnents  that  are  im- 
plicit in  the  whole  that  is  already  a  part  of  the  pupil'a 
mental  content,  though  this  whole  is  rather  empty. 
When  the  teacher  proceeds  deliberately  to  enrich  the 
content  of  a  whole  that  he  knows  to  exist  in  the  mind  of 
the  pupil,  it  may  be  thought  to  be  rather  a  matter  of 
information  than  of  -  illustration.  Yet  since  the  given 
whole  is  the  starting-point,  '  d  the  process  results 
in  making  clearer  the  meaning  of  that  whole,  it  may 
not  unfairly  be  treated  as  a  case  of  illustration. 

Take  the  case  of  trying  to  enrich  the  pupil's  concep- 
tion of  the  state  of  aSaiia  at  any  particular  time  in  the 
h.  tory  of  the  world.  First  of  all,  he  should  be  invited 
to  brmg  out  all  the  ideas  he  has  on  the  given  period. 
Here  the  pupil  allows  divergent  association  to  work. 
The  given  date  suggests  all  manner  of  diverse  things  that 
come  into  the  mind  one  after  the  other.  It  is  now  the 
teacher's  busmess  to  arrange  the  ideas  thus  called  up, 
and  to  supply  other  ideas  that  not  merely  enrich  the 
content  of  the  complex  idea  of  the  period,  but  place  the 
old  elements  in  a  new  light.   Often  all  that  is  necessaiy 


■LABOBATIOir 


to  understand  two  difiparate  ideas  is  the  presentation  of 
a  thirr?  which  iiMvitably  leads  to  a  oorfelation  of  the 
two  first.    We  h.ye  hare  a  suggesticm  of  the  iUua- 

trative  power  of  the  attendant  eiroumstance.  Fre- 
quently by  presenting  a  matter  in  very  great  detail  the 
teacher  succeeds  in  illustrating  it  by  giving  so  many 
starting-pmnts  for  divergent  association  that  one  or 
other  of  than  must  lead  to  such  a  c<dlocati<»i  of  ideaa 
as  shall  throw  light  upon  the  pupil's  difficulties. 

Victor  Hugo  devotes  a  brilliant  chapter  *  to  the  elabo- 
ration of  the  social  and  political  conditions  of  Paris  in 
the  year  1817.  Here  he  takes  it  for  granted  that  his 
readers  know  the  details  that  he  sets  about  arranging 
into  an  organised  whole.  He  enumerates  the  wdl- 
known  persons  who  Nourished  at  that  period,  and  indi- 
cates what  each  was  doing.  He  suggests  the  prevailing 
fashions  of  speech,  thought,  and  dress.  He  adds  illumi- 
nating sidelights  in  the  way  of  vivid  contrasts  between 
promise  and  porformanoe,  between  real  and  apparent, 
between  the  trifling  and  the  significant.  The  effect  of 
the  chapter  is  that  the  reader  feels  that  there  was  a 
living  Paris  in  that  year,  and  is  ready  to  deal  intelli- 
gently with  any  events  that  transpired  then.  Still,  un- 
less one  knows  a  good  deal  shout  the  France  of  that 
time,  one  is  not  in  a  position  to  profit  by  the  brilliant 
grouping  of  Hugo.  His  is  a  work  of  elaboration  and 
enumeration  rather  than  of  knowledge-giving.  This 
has  to  be  kept  in  view  in  our  teaching  of  history.  There 
is  a  strange  fallacy  still  somewhat  prevalent  regarding 
the  text-books  on  this  subjeet.  It  ai^)ear8  to  be  thought 
that  the  size  of  the  text-book  should  vary  in  durect  ratio 
to  the  siae  of  the  pupil:  Big  boy,  big  book;  little  boy, 
>  £m  Mu4nMf,  Fkrt  I,  Book  lU,  C1m|>.  I. 


2M  EXP^TION  AMD  ILLU8TRATI0N  IN  TEACHUfO 


Htilebook;  whtwM  tlwibeiiiionMbcia  invgwewtk). 

The  beginner  in  history  should  have  a  great  deal  ol 
detail;  he  is  preparing  the  material  that  will  afterwards 
be  used  when  he  is  called  upon  to  elaborate,  group,  and 
classify.  Teachers  are  now  so  eager  to  get  at  the  essen- 
tials of  history  that  they  forget  that  the  pupils  must 
acquire  a  certain  number  of  the  faetscrf  history.  Then 
is  naturally  no  need  to  worry  pupils  with  the  old  excess 
of  dates  and  genealogical  tables,  but  a  great  deal  of  wide 
general  reading  in  history  ought  to  precede  the  laud- 
able attempts  to  teach  constitutional,  and  what  may 
be  desoribed  as  sdentifio,  history. 

Illustration  by  elaboration  finds  an  important  field  in 
connection  with  definition  in  its  wider  sense.  To  give 
an  idea  of  what  Gothic  architecture  really  is,  we  must 
do  more  than  tell  our  pupils  that  it  is  that  form  of  archi- 
tecture that  prevailed  bet^reen  1200  a.d.  and  1475  a.d., 
and  is  marked  by  pointed  arches,  steep  roofs,  relativdy 
large  windows,  and -great  height  in  proportion  to  the 
01  dimensions.  We  must  elaborate  by  calling  atten- 
tio.  o  many  different  specimens  of  this  kind  of  archi- 
tecture, and  by  enumerating  the  different  qualities  of 
each  so  as  to  give  content  to  the  somewhat  empty 
d^nition. 

Few  words  are  more  difficult  to  define  than  bourgeois. 
The  following  attempt  *  takes  the  form  of  elaboration, 
and  is  therefore  well  suited  to  illustrate  this  section:  — 

"To  call  a  person  or  an  institution  bourgeois  is  for  her  [Madame 
de  Coulevain]  the  very  worst  degree  of  condemnation.  '  Foreigners, ' 
tia  wrHes,  'citeu  ask  me  the  meanfa-e,  oi  the  Una  hourgeo^.  I  find 

>  Winifred  Stephens,  Frentk  MoralUU  of  To-day,  1008.  Chapter  on 
Pierre  de  Coulevain,  p.  94. 


AAKAATIOII 


it  very  difficult  to  dafine.  .  .  .  B<nirff$oitiim,  like  provincialism, 
ii  •  umldiU.  ...  It  rommqnimtw  •  MMiln  impMwtnbiHijr. 

Its  charactcnstics  are  to  be  found  in  people  who  have  received  a 
superior  culture,  in  whom  are  developed  taste  and  a  sense  of  beauty. 
It  betrays  itself  by  eommon  ideas,  eztreme  intohranee,  bKad  obsti- 
nacy, an  incapacity  above  all  things  to  understand  and  to  accord 
liberty.  This  menUdiU  creates  a  particular  and  unmistakable 
ttmoephere.  The  peasant,  the  wwkman,  the  artisMi  are  noi 
bourgeou.  I  might  name  a  king  who  is  more  so  than  many  people 
bom  in  the  Rue  du  Sentier.  Napoleon  I  was  bourgeoit.  Napoleon 
III  was  not.  Balsac,  Guy  de  Maupassant  were  not  bourgeou; 
Zcim  was.  Two  of  our  great  newspapers,  one  of  our  best  reviews  are. 
The  church  of  Saint  Augustin  is  bourgeois,  Saint  Roch  is  not.  The 
ComMie  Fran^aise,  the  Optra  Comique,  the  Palais  Royal  are  bour- 
gooU:  the  Vaudevffle,  the  VarMtls,  the  TMatra  Antoine,  the 
caf6>  concerts  of  Montmartre  are  not.  Among  the  tea-houses  all 
are,  with  one  exception.  England,  Italy,  Spain  are  not  bourgeoite; 
Germany  is  and  her  emperor  fai  not.'  Until  thie  last  sentowe 
(thanks  to  Madame  de  Coulevain's  kind  expUumtion),  we  had  im- 
agined ourselves  beginning  to  understand  the  meaning  of  this 
enigmatical  term;  but  if  the  German  Emperor  be  not  hourgeoit, 
then  we  are  as  far  from  understanding  the  word  as  ever  we  were." 


As  a  matter  of  teaching,  Madame  de  Coulevain  makes 
a  serious  mistake  in  the  sentence,  "Its  characteristics 
are  to  be  found  in  people  who  have  received  a  supe- 
rior culture/'  etc.  No  doubt  the  context  shows  that 
hourgeoiaisme  is  to  be  found  elsewhere  than  among 
pt!ople  who  have  received  a  superior  culture.  But  the 
teacher  has  no  right  to  depend  entirely  upon  contexts, 
and  the  pupil  is  in  this  sentence  warranted  in  demand- 
ing the  caution  of  an  "even"  placed  before  the  words 
"in  people  who  have,"  ete.  As  iUustratiou,  Madame 
de  Coulevain's  effort  has  evidently  failed  so  far  as 
Miss  Stephens  is  concerned.  The  cause  of  the  trouble 
is  the  necessity  under  which  Madame  de  Coulevain 


296  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINQ 

labours  of  bdng  brilliant,  antithetical,  epigrammatic. 
It  would  have  been  quite  possible  for  her  to  select 
less  violent  contrasts  that  would  substantiate  the 
distinctions  impUed  in  her  gra^ral  description  of 
bourgeoisisme. 

Often  elaboration  may  be  very  usefully  employed 
along  certain  clearly  defined  lines.  To  get  a  clear  idea 
of  something,  it  is  frequently  desirable  to  isolate  certain 
groups  of  ideas.  It  is  sometimes  worth  while  to  attend 
to  only  one  set  of  things  for  a  while,  to  the  exclusion  of 
certain  concomitants.  For  example,  it  might  be  use- 
ful to  seiect  from  all  the  available  biographies  what 
certain  men  of  a  particular  class  of  genius  were  en- 
gaged with  at  a  certain  fixed  age,  say  25.  It  is  a  capital 
exercise  to  make  a  class  discover  what  was  occupying  the 
attention  of  ten  selected  poets,  or  generals,  or  states- 
men, or  men  of  science  at  this  age.  A  particularly 
interesting  exercise  is  to  make  the  age  coincide  with  that 
of  the  pupil,  and  ptit  the  exercise  in  the  form:'  What 
were  the  following  distinguished  men  occupied  with  and 
interested  in  at  your  own  age?  The  difiiculty  is  no 
doubt  to  get  accurate  and  full  details  of  the  earlier 
years  of  important  men.  But  great  ingenuity  is  often 
diown  by  pupils  in  interpreting  in  terms  of  their  own 
experience  the  scanty  materials  found  in  biographies. 
We  have  here,  in  fact,  an  excellent  illustration  of  the 
process  of  eUboration  guided  by  the  subjective  feding 
of  the  pupil. 


CHAPTER  XII 


Degree  in  Illustration 


In  a  general  way  we  must  distinguish  between  the 
quantitative  and  the  qualitative  in  Illustration.  It 
may  be  possible  to  illustrate  a  certain  fact  or  relation 
without  having  to  go  into  q  tiaatitative  details.  There 
are  some  matters  that  we  either  understand  or  we  do  not 
understand.  The  meaning  of  such  conceptions  as  size, 
cause,  number,  intensity,  may  be  clearly  conveyed  and 
intelligibly  illustrated  in  the  course  of  ordinary  exposi- 
tion, without  any  undue  strain  on  the  part  of  the  pupil. 
A  ^neral  knowledge  of  any  of  iheae  concq)tion8  may  be 
gathered  from  a  comparatively  small  number  of  cases. 
No  doubt,  in  order  to  enrich  the  conceptions,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  multiply  examples,  but  the  nature  of  the  con- 
ceptions does  not  change,  however  great  the  number  of 
examples  adduced.  The  idea  of  number  as  nuidb«', 
and  of  mze  as  sise,  ronains  Uie  same,  no  matter  what  the 
nature  of  the  phenomena  may  be  in  connection  with 
which  number  and  size  are  studied.  But  a  pupil  may 
be  able  to  understand  very  clearly  what  size  and  nimiber 
are,  and  yet  may  be  unable  to  realise  the  meaning  of 
certain  sisos  and  numbers.  Itiscmethingtoimderitand 
the  general  meaning  of  a  term,  it  is  quite  another  to 
appreciate  intelligently  the  degrees  that  may  be  in- 
cluded within  the  scope  of  that  term.  The  pupil  may 
have  quite  a  clear  mastery  of  the  meaning  of  number, 

297 


298  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


and  yet  may  have  no  real  command  over  the  concept  of 
a  million.  In  these  days  of  millionaires  and  multi- 
millionaires it  may  be  a  little  easier  to  attach  a  definite 
meaning  to  the  figures  1,000,000;  and  it  is  probable 
that  Ruskin,  in  the  following  passage,  underestimates  the 
percentage  of  people  who  know  the  meaning  of  a  million ; 
but  there  is  enough  truth  in  it  to  make  it  worth  our 
attention:  — 

"In  our  exceeding  prudence  we  are,  at  this  moment,  refuffl'ng 
the  purchase  of,  perhaps,  the  most  irueresting  picture  by  Raphael  in 
the  world,  and  certainly  one  of  the  most  beautiful  works  ever 
produced  by  the  art-wisdom  of  man,  for  five-and-twenty  ♦tMUMntnd 
pounds,  while  we  are  debating  whether  we  shall  not  pay  three 
hundred  millions  to  the  Americans,  as  a  fine  for  seUing  a  small  frig- 
ate to  Captain  Semmes.  Let  me  reduce  these  sums  from  thoioandi 
of  pounds  to  single  pounds ;  you  will  then  see  the  facts  more  clearly 
(there  is  not  one  person  in  a  million  who  knows  what  a  'million' 
means ;  and  that  is  one  reason  the  nation  b  alwaya  ready  to  let  its 
ministers  spend  a  million  or  two  in  cannon,  if  they  can  show  that 
they  have  saved  twopence-halfpenny  in  tape).  These  are  the  facts, 
then,  stating  pounds  for  thousands  of  pounds;  you  are  offered  a 
'  Nativity '  by  Raphael,  for  five-and-twenty  pounds,  and  cannot 
afford  it;  but  it  is  thought  you  may  be  bullied  into  paying  three 
hundred  ti  ousand  pounds,  for  having  sold  a  ship  to  Captain 
Semmes."* 

This  method  of  proportionate  redaction  is  certainly 
useful  in  giving  an  idea  of  relative  values,  but  it  in- 
troduces complications  of  its  owr..  A  Raphael  at 
twenty-five  pounds  is  as  incongruoub  as  a  fine  of  three 
hundred  millions  for  selling  a  ship.  Further,  when  the 
reduced  total  still  amounts  to  the  vast  sum  of  three 
hundred  thousand  pounds,  it  is  probable  that  all  who 
really  understand  this  quantity  would  also  have  an 


»  Th$  Ea^a  Neat,  Lecture  II. 


DEGREE  IN  ILLUSTBATION 


299 


intelligent  mastery  of  the  concept  three  hundred 
millions. 

But  it  has  to  be  admitted  that  the  acpoatw  is  faced 

by  serious  difficulties  the  moment  he  introduces  the 
notion  of  degree.  The  pupil  is  found  to  be  able  to  use 
his  conceptions  only  within  certain  limits  determined 
by  his  range  of  experience.  When  asked  as  a  school 
exercise  to  write  a  letter  to  a  eomiMuaion  telling  how  be 
spent  a  quarter  given  by  a  generous  imcle,  a  pupil  from 
a  poverty-strack  home  will  often  write  intelligently 
and  interestingly.  But  if  the  teacher  makes  the  imagi- 
nary uncle  prodigal  enough  to  present  a  ten-KloUar  bill, 
the  result  on  the  composition  is  disastrous.  The  pupil 
cannot  rise  to  the  expenditure  of  such  a  vast  sum.  A 
quarter  is  a  real  thing  to  him,  a  coin  that  he  has  handled, 
a  sum  of  money  that  he  has  already  manipulated, 
though  perhaps  never  with  the  entirely  free  hand 
permitted  in  an  irresponsible  letter.  He  may  have  seen 
a  ten-dollar  bill,  and  is  certainly  able  to  tell  you  at  a 
moment's  notice  how  many  quartors  he  ccrald  get  in 
exchange  for  it.  But  to  the  poor  boy  the  bill  is  some- 
thing beyond  the  range  of  everyday  operations.  It 
represents  capital  rather  than  cash,  and  in  consequence 
the  letter  usually  takes  the  form  of  various  reconmienda- 
tions  for  banking  the  troublesome  money,  or  at  any  rate 
making  some  eeonomio  or  philantiuropic  use  erf  it.  A 
common  device  among  young  letter-writers  under  such 
trying  circiimstances  is  to  describe  the  spending  of,  say, 
one  doUpj*  out  of  the  whole,  in  ways  that  appeal  to 
young  desires,  and  to  hand  over  the  remaining  nine  to 
mother,  who  is  so  badly  in  need  oi  thorn.  A  boy  from  a 
wealthy  home,  if  asked  to  write  a  similar  letter  on  a  ten- 
dollar  basis,  finds  no  difficulty;  but  a  $1000  bill  givet 


300  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


him  pause.  Yet  while  the  difference  between  $10  and 
$1000  is  greater  than  that  between  a  quarter  and  $10, 
the  wealthy  boy  finds  less  difficulty  in  passing  from 
the  small  bill  to  the  big  one  than  his  poorer  fellow 
has  in  passing  from  the  quarter  to  the  small  bill. 
Accustomed  to  copious  supplies  of  pocket  money,  the 
rich  boy  is  less  impressed  by  $1000  than  the  poor  boy 
by  $10. 

In  relation  to  any  class  of  phenomena,  we  have  all 
different  thresholds  of  impressionability.  What  would 
astonish  a  farm-hand  in  New  York  would  make  no  im- 
pression on  a  seasoned  dweller  in  that  city;  while  the 
New  Yorker,  as  paying  guest  at  a  farm,  finds  himsdf 
impressed  by  many  things  that  leave  his  hosts  un- 
moved. In  any  department  we  must  have  stimuli  of 
a  certain  degree  of  intensity  before  we  are  impressed; 
this  intensity  may  be  increased  up  to  a  certain  point, 
but  when  this  point  is  reached,  we  pass  beyond  the 
upward  limit  of  impreadonability. 

For  the  benefit  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abedn^, 
Neb'ichadnezzar  "spake,  and  commanded  that  they 
shou  1  heat  the  furnace  one  seven  times  more  than  it 
was  wont  to  be  heated."  *  This  passage  worried  me  when 
I  was  a  boy.  To  me  a  furnace  was  a  furnace,  and  once 
it  had  been  properly  kindled  and  was  well  supplied  with 
fuel,  it  was  as  hot  as  it  could  be.  I  was  unable  to  under- 
stand how  it  could  be  hotter;  and  further,  even  if  it 
could,  I  was  at  a  loss  to  see  how  that  was  going  to 
benefit  Nebuchadnezzar.  As  soon  as  his  three  victims 
were  placed  in  ike  furnace,  they  would  be  instantane- 
ously burnt  up.  I  could  not  eonodve  d  d^^rees  of 
o(»nbuition.  A  num  was  either  burnt  up  en*  lie  was 

>  Dudd  m.  19. 


DEOBEB  IN  ILLUSTRATION 


301 


not.   My  boyish  point  of  view  I  find  well  illnstnted  in 

a  remark  made  by  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  in  speaking  of  the 
wonders  of  Niagara.  He  is  not  greatly  impressed,  and 
says:  "A  hundred  tons  of  water  is  just  as  stunning  as 
ten  million.  A  hundred  tons  of  water  stuns  one  alto- 
gether, and  what  more  do  you  want  7  "  ^  could  not  un- 
derstmd  what  more  Nebuchadnessar  wanted.  My  reli^ 
gious  instructor  infonned  me  that  I  need  not  worry 
about  the  number  seven.  The  passage  had  no  arith- 
metical signification,  and  merely  meant  that  the  fur- 
nace was  heated  very  much  more  than  usual.  This 
was  no  doubt  quite  satisfactory  from  the  lelipous  stand- 
point, but  it  l«ft  something  to  be  desired  in  direc- 
tions. Indeed,  it  was  not  till  I  had  come  across  certun 
figures  some  years  later  regarding  the  temperatures 
in  blast-furnaces  that  I  realised  that  there  might  be 
good  science  as  well  as  good  religion  in  the  story  found 
in  Daniel. 

It  is  true  that  the  figures  I  encountered  raised  fresh 
difficulties.  It  was  stated  in  the  text-book  that  at  the 
mouth  of  a  certain  blast-furnace  the  temperature  was 
320°  centigrade,  and  that  it  went  on  increasing  with  the 
depth,  till  at  a  distance  of  34  feet  from  the  mouth  the 
temperature  was  1460**  C.  This  enormous  tempenir* 
ture  was  deariy  far  beyond  my  Threshold  of  Stun. 
Between  zero  and  100*  C.  I  felt  that  I  not  only  under- 
stood but  realised  the  different  degrees  of  heat.  I  had 
experienced  the  heat  of  boiling  water,  and  ordinary 
childidi  curiosity  had  given  me  a  fleeting  expaimoe 
of  the  presumably  higher  temperature  of  red-hot  iron. 
I  was  quite  convinced  that  after  the  boiling  point  of 
water  I  had  no  clef  r  notion  of  what  increase  in  tempera- 

'  fke  F'.'iure  in  Amerv^,  p.  72. 


302  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

ture  meant  It  aceordingly  conveyed  little  to  my  mind 
when  I  was  told  that  the  heat  at  the  bottom  of  a  blast- 
furnace is  so  great  that  it  must  be  measured  by  a  num- 
ber fourteen  and  a  half  times  as  great  as  that  which 
measures  the  heat  of  boiling  water.  StUl,  as  experience 
brought  me  more  uad  more  examples  of  very  high  tem- 
peratures used  in  actual  processes,  I  b^^  to  have  a 
working  knowledge  of  what  these  temperatures  may 
mean.  The  fusing  points  of  the  different  metals 
naturally  supply  figures  that  have  a  practical  value. 
When  the  pupil  is  told  that  pure  silver  fuses  at  960°  C, 
pure  gold  at  1075°  C,  and  pure  platinum  at  1775**  C, 
he  b^^  to  attach  a  meaning  to  those  high  tempera- 
tures. If,  now,  he  examines  the  table  of  fusion  points 
of  Prinsep's  Alloys  (the  silver  and  gold  series,  and  the 
gold  and  platinum  series),  he  gets  a  still  clearer  view  of 
the  meaning  of  relativity  of  temperature.  To  realise 
in  any  d^ree  the  still  h^er  temperature  of  the  oxyhy- 
drogen  flame  (estimated  by  Bunsen  at  2844*  C.)  and 
the  electric  arc  (3000°  C.  to  3900  C.°),  the  pupil  must 
familiarize  himself  with  certain  processes  with  which 
these  are  connected. 

In  all  this  practical  application,  in  order  to  acquire  an 
intelligent  acquaintance  with  matters  entirely  bejronf* 
our  Threshold  of  Stun,  it  will  be  found  that  there  i  i 
natural  tendency  always  present  to  interpret  unrealis- 
able  quantities  in  terms  of  realisable.  For  example,  when 
the  pupil  is  told  the  various  temperatures  of  the  differ- 
eat  parts  of  the  Bunsen  flam^— outer  flai  >d  1350**  C, 
violet  1250"  C,  blue  1200°  C,  central  dark  cone  from 
250^  to  650°  C,  he  finds  that  he  has  a  sort  of  impression 
that  the  inner  dark  cone  is  comparatively  cool.  The 
very  introduction  of  this  term  cool  is  an  indication  of  a 


DBQBBB  IN  ILLUSTRATION 


303 


reference  to  a  subjective  instead  of  to  an  objective 
standard.  This  mixing  of  standards  is  to  be  avdded, 
except  in  cases  in  which  we  are  working  below  the 

Threshold  of  Stun.  The  moment  we  have  risen  above 
that  threshold  we  must  do  our  comparisons  in  terms 
of  units  that  may  have  been  originally  fixed  in  rela- 
tion to  something  within  our  subjective  experience, 
but  which,  once  we  have  passed  the  threshold,  can  no 
longer  be  tested  by  reference  to  that  expeneme. 

Without  making  any  pretence  of  severe  scientific 
accuracy  in  this  matter  of  stun,  we  may  help  our  think- 
ing by  using  some  of  our  terms  in  a  clearly  defined 
way.  Let  tiiat  degjne  <A  intensity  o^  stimulus  that  just 
rouses  our  attention  to  a  particular  f aet  or  phenomraon 
mark  the  Threshold  of  Impressionability  to  that  class 
of  facts  or  phenomena.  All  the  range  between  this  and 
the  point  at  which  we  are  stunned  may  well  be  spoken 
of  as  the  Zone  of  Impressionability.  Above  the  Thresh- 
old of  Stun,  of  course,  is  the  r^on  whsm  notiiing  mat- 
ters, so  far  as  direct  experience  goes. 

In  dealing  with  the  rich  and  poor  boy,  we  were  practi- 
cally working  all  the  time  within  the  Zone  of  Impres- 
'onability.  Neither  of  the  boys  was  really  stunned. 
E;ich  of  than  found  himself  faced  by  a  certiun  difilculty 
i'l  dealing  with  quantities  beyond  his  usual  scale;  but 
neither  was  brought  up  against  unintelligibilHy  as 
would  have  been  the  case  had  they  been  called  upon  to 
deal  with  millions  in  a  practical  way.  In  the  case  of 
temperatures  we  find  that  there  is  a  small  range  within 
which  heat  can  be  estimated  by  smsation,  but  above  and 
below  this  range  thore  are  long  sweeps  of  gradations  of 
temperature  that  may  be  understood  and  intelligently 
applied,  but  that  cannot  be  interpreted  in  terms  of 


3M  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TISACHINQ 

sensation.  In  estimating  the  climate  of  a  country  or 
the  heat  of  a  bath,  a  writer  may  depend  upon  his  readers 
making  subjective  references,  and  he  knows  within 
what  limits  he  can  depend  upon  not  exceeding  their 
Threshold  of  Stun.  But  in  all  temperatures  above 
and  below  the  points  at  which  the  human  organism 
ceases  to  record  gradation  there  is  no  meaning  in  refer- 
ring to  sensations  in  estimating  heat.  There  is  no  need 
that  we  should  have  a  physical  realisation  of  200**  C, 
not  to  mention  2400*"  C. 

In  a  crude  physical  sense  we  may  treat  the  range 
within  which  the  bodily  organism  records  gradations  of 
temperature  as  the  zone  of  impressionability  to  h^t. 
But  our  mental  impressionability  to  ideas  of  the 
gradations  of  heat  is  a  quite  diflferent  matter.  Our 
physical  Threshold  of  Stun  is  reached  long  before  our 
mental.  Even  on  the  physical  basis  the  Threshold  of 
Stun  may  be  slightly  raked.  The  exMt  mnnher  of  tons 
of  water  that  would  stun  Mr.  iVells  at  Niagara  might 
not  be  enough  to  stun  him  at  a  later  stage  if  he  took  to 
living  close  by  a  waterfall  that  carried  just  the  requisite 
number  of  tons  to  stun  him  at  the  present  moment. 
By  and.  by  it  would  be  necessary  to  increase  the  number 
of  tons  if  the  stunning  was  to  be  kept  up.  But  this 
raising  of  the  threshold  could  not  be  carried  very  far. 
A  point  is  soon  reached  beyond  which  the  stun  is  in- 
surmountable, and  indeed  this  higher  degree  of  stimulus 
would  probably  lead  to  the  permanent  injury  of  the 
organs  stimulated. 

On  the  mental  side,  however,  there  is  nothing  to 
hinder  the  gradual  but  steady  raising  of  the  Threshold  of 
Stun  with  regard  to  any  of  the  departments  of  the  activ- 
ity of  the  mind.   It  may  be  said  that  an  important  part 


DEGREE  IN  ILLUSTRATION 


305 


of  a  teaefaei^s  work  eoositts  in  the  raising  of  the  Thn^ 
old  of  Stun,  a  little  on  the  sensational  plane,  and  a 
great  deal  on  the  intellectual  It  is  his  business  to  vm 
the  senses  and  the  ideas  so  as  to  provide  a  basis  on 
which  the  pupil  may  continue  to  build  in  such  a  way 
that  his  Threshold  of  Stun  shall  continue  rising  in 
those  matters  that  are  important  to  him.  There  is  no 
reason  for  this  raismg  process  to  cease  tUl  physical 
decay  intervenes. 

In  the  matter  of  large  numbers  and  vast  distances, 
teachers  are  fully  alive  to  the  need  for  finding  means  to 
enable  the  pupil  to  realise  quantities  that  are  at  first 
quite  beyond  hun.  The  usual  plan  adopted  is  to  in- 
stitute some  sort  of  comparison  between  small  and  great. 
In  particular  the  attempt  is  made  to  get  rid  of  the  unin- 
telligibility  of  vast  numbers  by  expressing  the  results 
of  s'  nrocess  of  manipulating  them.  The  following 
is  a  .  sal  attonpt  to  get  people  to  reafise  the  enor- 
mous distances  dealt  witii  in  astoonomy : — 

"  Let  us  suppose  a  nllway  to  have  been  built  between  the  earth 
and  the  fixed  star  Alpha  Centauri.  By  a  consideration  of  this  rail- 
way's workings  we  can  get  some  idea  of  the  enormous  distance  that 
intervenes  between  Centaums  and  us.  Suppose  that  I  should  <fo> 
ride  to  take  a  trip  on  this  new  atrial  line  to  the  fixed  star.  I  ask 
the  ticket  agent  what  the  fare  is,  and  he  answers :  — 

" '  The  fare  is  very  low,  sir.  It  is  only  a  cent  each  hundred  miles.' 

'"And  iK^t,at  that  rate,  will  the  tiirou^  tiokettme way  oortT' 
I  ask. 

It  will  cost  just  $  3,750,000,000,'  he  answers. 
"  I  pay  for  my  ticket  and  board  the  train.  We  set  <^  at  a  tie- 
mendoua  rate. 

"  '  How  fast  ? '  I  ask  the  brakemau, '  are  you  going  ? ' 
" '%xty  miles  an  hour,  Mr,'  myn  he,  '«id  it's  a  throui^  ttaiu. 
There  are  no  stops.' 

" '  y^e'll  soon  be  there,  then,  shan't  we  ? '  I  resume, 
z 


806  BZPOSmON  AND  ILLUSnUTIOir  ni  TBAOmNQ 

**  'Well  make  good  time,  sir,'  says  the  brakeman. 
"'And  when  shall  we  arrive  ? ' 
*  'In  just  48,663,000  years.' " 

—  Philadelphia  BuUetin.^ 

The  enormous  fare  is  certainly  very  impressive,  but 
it  is  doubtful  whether  much  is  gained  by  representing 
(he  distance  in  tenns  of  money,  since  in  any  case  the 
numbers  are  clearly  beyond  the  Threshold  of  Stun.  No 
pupil  can  really  appreciate  the  meaning  of  three  and 
three-quarter  billions,  and  if  he  is  to  be  impressed  by  the 
mere  number  of  digits,  it  would  be  more  effective  to  tell 
him  plainly  that  Alpha  Centauri  is  37,500,000,000,000 
miles  away.  As  a  mattw  of  experience  I  found  that 
many  people  to  whom  this  illustration  was  presented  at 
once  proceeded  to  reduce  the  dollars  to  cents  and  then  to 
multiply  the  result  by  one  hundred  in  order  to  get  at  the 
exact  number  of  miles.  It  may  be  felt  that  at  any  rate 
the  forty-eight  million  years  will  help  the  pupil  to  realise 
the  enormous  distance.  But  the  time  is  so  grrat  that 
there  is  an  opportunity  for  the  mind  to  conceive  of  the 
journey  as  being  a  rather  restful  experience.  Instead 
of  being  impressed  by  the  enormous  space  passed  over, 
the  mind  is  inclined  to  dwell  upon  the  evenness  of  the 
journey.  So  far  as  the  illustration  appeals  to  the  picto- 
rial, it  defeats  the  ends  of  the  illustrator,  for  the  hurry 
and  bustle  of  the  train  disappear  when  we  project  it 
against  the  silence  of  limitless  space. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  a  parallel  illustration  of 

•  Quoted  by  Mitchill  and  Carpenter :  Exposition  in  CUut-room  Prae- 
tiee,  p.  231.  Those  who  accept  the  arithmetical  challenge  and  seek 
to  reconcile  the  dollar  calculation  with  the  result  in  years  will  find 
their  work  cut  out  for  them.  It  would  appear  that  in  ca^s  of  such 
vast  numbers  the  arithmetical  challenge  is  less  alluring  than  usual. 
The  reader  is  inclined  to  take  the  writer's  word  for  it. 


DBORBI  or  ILLU8TBATI0N  807 


the  same  distance  as  found  in  Sir  Robert  Ball,  who  is  a 
master  in  suoh  matters.  He  begins  by  bluntly  stating 
the  diitanee,  whieh  he  sajrs  may  be  exprctsed  in  milea 

by  a  2  followed  by  thirteen  ciphers.  Knowing  that  the 
expression  20,000,(XX),000,000  (which,  by  the  way,  does 
not  correspond  to  the  Bulletin's  figures  —  but  fortu- 
nately we  are  not  here  responsible  for  the  facts  that  we 
have  to  illustrate)  is  far  beyond  his  readers'  Thrediold  of 
Stun,  he  sets  about  an  explanation  *  that  is  an  admirable 
illustration  of  the  process  of  elaboration.  Like  the 
Bulletin,  Sir  Robert  arranges  for  a  special  tarifT:  in  his 
case  a  penny  per  hundred  miles.  Then  taking  the 
British  National  Debt,  which  at  that  time  (April,  1887) 
amounted  to  £736,000,000,  he  senks  to  make  his  readers 
realise  this  vast  sum  by  first  of  ail  pointing  out  that  the 
mere  interest  at  a  low  rate  amounts  tf  £60,000  per  day. 
Then  he  imagines  the  youngster  filling  his  pockets 
with  gold  so  as  to  go  and  buy  a  ticket.  Pockets  failing, 
a  cart  has  to  be  called  in:  tm  carts,  fifty  carts,  a  hun- 
dred carts.  Finally,  the  young  traveller  starts  at  the 
head  of  his  procession  of  five  thousand  carts  of  gold,' 
only  to  find  that,  so  far  from  getting  any  change  back, 
he  is  still  more  than  £100,000,000  short  of  the  specially 
reduced  fare. 

Approaching  the  matter  anew  from  a  different  point, 
Sir  Robert  gives  some  figures  regarding  the  number  of 

miles  of  cotton  yam  produced  in  a  Lancashire  mill,  then 
in  all  the  Lancashire  mills.    Finally,  he  works  up  to  the 

>  Starland,  p.  317.  The  book  is  a  popular  IbqMsition  intended  for 
young  readers. 

'  On  a  cal'  'latlon  on  the  basis  of  3|  sovereigns  to  one  ounce  avoir- 
dupois, it  would  not  appear  that  each  cart  was  overladen.  Yet  263 
poundsdenuuidavdiideQf  K»DesiMrt,H>  the  {thtstrntkm  may  be  jw* 
tified. 


a06  ■ZPOaiTIOM  AND  ILLUITRATION  Of  TBAOHWO 


■Utement  that  400  yean  would  be  neoeiMry  for  enough 
cotton  to  be  grown  in  America  and  qmn  in  Enf^bnd 

before  there  would  be  enough  thread  to  reach  to  the 
nearest  fixed  star.  But  the  highest  point  is  reached 
when  he  says  that  "All  the  spinning  that  has  ever  yet 
been  done  in  the  world  has  not  produced  a  long  enough 
thread"  to  reaeh  from  the  earth  to  the  nearest  fixed 
star.  This  spinning  illustration  I  find  causes  too  many 
questions  to  be  asked  as  to  details.  Are  the  American 
mills  included,  or  must  all  the  spinning  be  done  in 
England?  —  and  so  forth.  Illustrations  should  not 
challenge  Mich  queries. 

Sir  Robert's  illustration  from  the  fact  that  from 
certain  of  the  fixed  stars,  in  spite  of  the  enormous 
velocity  of  light,  it  would  be  possible  at  the  present 
moment  to  see  the  Battle  of  Waterloo  going  on,  is 
damaged  by  the  pathetic  condition,  if  the  inhabitants 
"had  good  enou|^  telescopes."  Strangely  enough,  this 
^  is  a  much  greater  stumbling-block  to  pupils  than  that 
in  the  other  illustration,  that  if  a  telegraphic  met:9age 
had  been  sent  off  at  the  time  to  announce  the  birth  of 
our  Lord,  it  would  be  still  on  its  way  to  some  of  the 
remoter  fixed  stars.  In  all  this  we  are  quite  beyond  the 
Threshold  of  Stun,  and  the  materials  our  illuslai^n 
are  tested  more  from  the  terrestrial  than  the  celestial 
point  of  view.  Somehow  my  students  almost  unani- 
mously confess  to  be  much  more  impressed  by  the  tele- 
gram illustration  than  by  all  the  others,  though  several 
have  said  that  th^  enjoyed  lingering  aver  the  possibili- 
ties of  what  could  be  seen  from  appropriate  stars. 
Here  we  have  the  illustration  becoming  the  substantive 
matter  of  thought. 

The  change  from  the  railway  unit  to  the  telegraphic 


DBQIOB  m  ILLVtnUTKMf 


certainly  increases  the  general  impression  of  enormous 
distancen.  If  we  go  on  multiplj'ing  examples,  we  do 
gradually  get  ft  notion  of  the  relativity  involved.  But 
the  onAy  wfty  in  idiieh  we  oan  mliw  ymI  qtwntitiei 
is  by  manipulating  them,  and  utilising  the  conception 
of  relativity  so  as  to  reach  certain  practical  conclusions 
respecting  the  matter  actually  involved.  When  the 
astronomer  tells  us  that  Sirius  is  1,375,000  times  farther 
away  from  ui  Uum  the  mm  is,  we  take  the  gentleman's 
wordfiHrit;  but  we  do  not  realise  what  he  means.  Itis 
true  that  some  of  us  would  accept  the  arithmetical 
challenge  implied  in  his  statement  and  work  out  the 
equation:  — 

93,000,000  X  1,375,000  -  127,875,000,000,000 

and  some  of  us  might  derive  satbfaction  from  being 
able  to  say  that  Sirius  is  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
trillion  eii^t  hundred  and  seventy-five  Inlliim  miles 
from  the  earth;  but  are  we  any  farther  forward  as  to 
what  it  all  means  ?  The  answer  is  to  b  found  in  the 
fact  that  we  can  manipulate  these  figures  in  an  intelli- 
gent way.  We  can  make  calculations  and  come  to 
certain  conoltunons  based  on  them,  oonelusions,  be  it 
observed,  that  a  plain  man  can  ooxob  to  on  his  own 
account  when  the  matter  is  properly  presented  to  him. 
The  following  is  t&ken  from  a  school  text-book  that  was 
formerly  very  widely  used  and  in  which  a  small  section 
is  set  apart  for  purely  astronomical  matters:  — 

"  It  has  been  calculated  that  if  the  sun  were  removed  to  the 
distance  ot  Sirius,  it  would  shine  with  odfy  put  of  its  hi^e, 
and  it  has  been  conjectured,  tiierefore,  that  the  diameter  of  Sirius 
must  be  at  least  twelve  times  greater  than  that  of  the  sun.  Of  this, 
howevw,  we  cannot  be  certain,  for  q>eotrum  analyns  has  tau^t  us, 
amoog  other  things,  that  rtm  diine  with  difleemt  depeei  of 


310  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

ness,  owing  probably  to  differences  of  temperature,  and  that  Sirius 
is  among  the  hottest  and  brightest  of  all."  * 

We  have  here  a  calculation — not  a  very  safe  one,  as 

the  writer  warns  us,  but  quite  an  intelligible  one  — 
based  upon  the  enormous  distance  that  we  admit  we 
cannot  reaUse.  The  calculation  is  none  the  less  valid. 
Further,  when  we  begin  to  compare  one  fixed  star 
with  another,  and  to  arrange  the  stars  into  their  various 
magnitudes,  we  gradually  begin  to  attach  a  more  or 
less  definite  meaning  to  the  enormous  astronomical 
numbers:  we  can  behave  intelligently  towards  them. 
So  with  the  minute  subdivisions  implied  in  the  atomic 
theory,  and  the  newer  theories  that  appear  to  demand 
an  even  minuter  subdivision.  Chemists  can  act  intelli- 
gently upon  certain  calculations  based  on  units  that  they 
cannot  realise. 

The  following  illustration  was  burned  into  my  mind 
at  a  very  early  period.  It  occurs  in  the  geography 
text-book '  on  which'  I  was  brought  up :  — 

"The  distance  from  Liverpool  to  New  Ynrk  is  about  3500  miles, 
and  can  be  traversed  in  about  10  days.   At  this  rate  the  time  re- 
quired to  go  from  the  Sun  to  the  planets  would  be  as  follows : — 
289  yoBLTB  to  Mercury. 
540  years  to  Venus. 
744  years  to  Earth. 
1,127  years  to  Mars. 
1,720  years  to  the  nearer  Asteroids. 
2,372  years  to  the  more  distant  Asteroids. 
3,867  years  to  Jupiter. 
7,092  y«an  to  Saturn. 
14,262  years  to  Uranus. 
22,521  years  to  Neptune. 
156,500,000  years  to  nearest  fixed  star. 

» William  Lawson :  Outlines  of  Phynograpky,  p.  249. 

*  Modem  Gwgraphyfor  th$  Vm  i^SdiooU,  by  Robert  Anderson. 


DEGREE  IN  ILLUSTRATION 


311 


"At  this  rate  it  would  have  taken  from  1000  years  before  the 
creation  of  man  till  now,  in  order  to  much  brm  Saturn." 

This  old  illustration  is  nof  introduced  for  its  own  sake, 
but  because  of  the  effect  it  j.  -o.  «uced  on  f  ertain  students 
to  whom  it  \.  ds  presented.  iWi  .i*  tiiude  was  at  once 
that  of  the  superior  person.  They  did  not  quote 
Moli^re,  but  they  led  me  clearly  to  understand  that  we 
had  now  changed  all  that,  and  that  thanks  to  the 
Mauretania  and  her  rivals  we  could  now  cut  down  these 
distances  by  exactly  one-half.  So  difficult  is  it  to  keep 
the  relative  and  the  absolute  in  their  proper  places. 
To  be  sure,  the  young  men  immediately  saw  their  error, 
and  one  of  them  justified  himself  to  some  extent  by 
saying  that,  after  all,  America  is  really  nearer  to  Europe 
than  it  was  last  century;  and  to  gainsay  hun  was  not 
the  part  of  one  who  teaches  that  the  true  meaning  of  an 
idea  is  the  power  to  behave  intelligently  in  relation  to 
the  content  of  the  outer  world  involved  in  that  idea. 

Two  summers  ago  at  Niagara  I  read  (me  of  those  folder 
advertisements  of  which  such  effective  use  is  made  in  the 
States.  Its  purpose  was  to  enhance  the  wonders  of 
the  falls.  The  length,  breadth,  thickness,  and  weight  of 
the  body  of  water  were  given,  and  after  the  mind  had 
been  sufficiently  harrowed,  the  climax  ^as  reached  by  a 
statement  of  the  length  of  tune  that  it  took  for  a  cubic 
mile  of  water  to  fall  over.  I  do  not  remember  the  exact 
figures  of  the  folder,  but  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  the 
sense  of  anticUmax  involved.  On  calculating  out  the 
whole  matter,  I  find  the  effect  even  more  flattening  than 
my  memory  led  me  to  expect.  Taking  the  figures 
supplied  in  the  ninth  edition  of  the  EnejfdopatHa 
Britannica  (these  are  old  enough  not  to  allow  for  any 
diversion  of  water  for  the  power  stations,  and  thus 


312  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINO 


give  the  falls  a  fair  chance  to  ahow  up  well),  I  find  that 
18,000,000  cubic  feet  of  water  fall  over  every  minute. 
This  is  sufficiently  impressive,  but  when  worked  out 
on  a  volumetric  basis  the  best  we  can  say  for  the  falls 
is  that  they  toss  over  an  entire  cubic  mile  in  five  days 
sixteen  hours/  The  impressiyeness  guned  by  using 
the  magnificent  unit  of  one  cubic  nule  is  not  nearly 
sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  enoimous  loss  in  actual 
digits. 

Few  people  are  able  to  realise  what  a  cubic  mile 
means.  In  fact,  the  calculation  we  have  just  made  has 
enabled  us  to  und^tand  better  what  is  implied  in  the 
higher  unit,  and  so  far  is  of  use.  But  the  question  we 
are  at  present  considering  is  the  illustrative  value  of 
the  cubic  mile  unit,  not  the  possibility  of  realising  that 
unit.  In  point  of  fact,  we  have  here  reversed  the  parts 
played  by  the  illustration  and  the  illustrandum.  The 

'  A  little  personal  experience  is  perhaps  in  order  here:  at  any 
rate,  it  is  instructive.  In  a  lecture  before  the  College  of  Preceptors 
in  London  in  May,  1909,  I  used  this  illustration,  but  I  made  a  mis- 
calculation to  the  extent  of  misplacing  a  decimal  point.  Though  my 
result  was  thus  ten  times  less  than  it  should  have  been,  it  seemed 
big  enough  to  correspond  to  what  I  remembered  from  the  folder,  so 
my  suspicions  were  not  aroused.  In  the  correct  verbatim  report  in 
the  Educational  Times  for  June  1  appears  the  passage:  "The  best 
we  can  do  is  to  say  that  in  thirteen  and  a  half  hours  a  whole  cubic  mile 
of  water  tumbles  over  the  cliffs."  No  one  wrote  to  correct  this  serious 
blunder:  but  I  am  not  now  surprised  that  the  usually  vigilant  arith- 
matician  foi^ot  his  customary  lust  for  accuracy.  Not  that  the  state- 
ment remained  unchallenged.  Without  trouUbag  to  work  out  details, 
Ml  acquaintance  —  an  astronomer  of  all  men  —  said  there  must  be 
something  wrong,  as  it  certainly  could  not  take  so  long  as  thirteen  and 
a  half  hours  for  a  cubic  mile  of  water  to  tumble  over  the  cliffs;  he 
had  seen  the  falls  and  he  knew.  It  was  because  of  his  objection 
that  I  revised  my  calculation,  and  now  I  fiod  it  voy  hud  to  get  any- 
body to  believe  my  result  —  so  u^twnl  ii  tlM  innbOfty  to 
what  a  cubic  mile  actually  means. 


DEGREE  IN  ILLUSTRATION  313 


effect  of  the  present  paragraph  has  been  to  illustrate  the 
enormous  bulk  of  a  cubic  n  Ue  by  means  of  the  Falls  of 
Niagara.  If  it  takes  even  these  gigantic  falls  five 
days  sixteen  hours  to  hurl  over  one  cubic  mile  of  water, 
then  we  may  have  some  idea  of  what  this  unit  implies. 

To  obtain  a  pictorial  conception  of  a  cubic  mile  is  not 
only  difficult,  but  is  of  doubtful  utility.    In  climbing  an 
Alp  we  may  be  fortunate  enough  to  come  across  a  preci- 
pice that  is  just  about  a  mile  deep,  and  has  certain  rela- 
tions with  neighbouring  landmarks  that  enable  us  to 
separate  out  approximately  a  cubic  mile  of  air-filled 
space.   The  effect  is  almost  always  disappointing. 
The  mile  seems  much  smaller  than  we  had  expected,  for 
the  obvious  reason  that  under  the  conditions  sketched 
the  surroundings  are  on  such  a  grand  scale  that  the 
imaged  mile  is  dwarfed  by  its  environment.  Some 
prefer  to  get  their  conception  through  the  medium  of 
water.   By  notmg  certain  distances  on  shore,  and  by 
fixing  certain  marks  at  sea,  they  get  a  square  mile 
marked  out,  and  then  proceed  to  overwork  their  imagi- 
nation in  an  attempt  to  figure  out  the  cube  (rf  water  of 
which  the  marked  square  mile  is  the  upper  face.  The 
important  point,  however,  is  not  to  make  a  picture  of  a 
cubic  mile,  but  to  reaUse  by  practical  applications  what 
it  actually  means. 

Many  illustrations  aim  at  the  pictorial  when  they 
should  reaUy  seek  to  elimmate  it.  The  pupil  is  told 
that  there  are  approximately  suteen  hundred  million 
human  bemgs  at  present  living  upon  the  earth.  It  is 
difficult  to  reaUse  this  vast  number,  so  the  illustrator 
sets  about  making  a  picture.  He  seteets  some  particu- 
lar part  of  the  world  that  will  just  hold  aU  the  inhale 
ants  of  the  earth  standing  padud  tofellMr.  The  beil 


'^14  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

situation  is  obviously  an  island,  because  the  imagination 
will  have  the  aid  of  the  -ea  in  limiting  its  operations. 
It  is  well  that  the  island  selected  should  have  some 
hill  from  the  top  of  which  the  whole  island  can  be 
envisaged.  The  Isle  of  Wight  in  the  south  of  England 
fulfils  this  condition  almost  perfectly.  Standing  on 
Ashey  Down,  the  spectator  can  command  the  whole 
island  with  a  very  trifling  exception.  The  illustrator 
now  proceeds  with  his  calculations.  The  island  covers 
about  147  square  miles,  and  each  square  mile  contains 
27,878,400  square  feet.  Accordingly,  the  island  in- 
cludes 4,098,124,800  square  feet.  This,  divided  by 
1,600,000,000,  gives  2.56  square  feet  per  human  being, 
or  a  squad's  of  about  19  in.  side  —  just  standing-room. 
Having  now  gathered  the  whole  human  race  on  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  what  better  o£f  are  we?  So  far  from 
being  helped,  the  imagination  is  harassed.  It  has  to 
work  overtime,  there  are  so  many  things  for  it  to  do 
with  this  huge  crowd.  The  scene  calls  up  too  many 
irrelevant  elements;  we  falter  in  our  attempts  to  realise 
the  different  sizes,  colours,  and  odours  of  those  people 
swept  in  from  all  ends  of  the  earth.  How  are  they  to  be 
fed  ?  Are  we  to  picture  them  as  arranged  by  nations  or 
indiscriminately  ?  How  could  they  stand  on  some  of  the 
steep  places  in  the  island  ?  I  have  seen  many  a  class 
reduced  to  desperation  by  the  surging  questions  raised 
by  this  preposterous  picture.  As  a  preliminary  to  a 
word-picture  of  the  Day  of  Judgment,  the  scheme 
may  have  its  advantages,  but  for  giving  an  idea  of  the 
population  of  the  world  it  is  not  very  successful.  In 
actual  practice  it  conveys  the  general  impreanon  that 
th^  are  not  so  many  people  in  the  world  after  all. 
England  itself  is  not  very      but  the  Isle  of  Wight  is 


DEGREE  IN  ILLUSTRATION 


315 


such  a  little  place.  If  the  purpose  is  to  show  how 
much  room  there  is  still  in  the  world,  the  illustration 
is  effective  enough,  though  it  could  hardly  be  used  as  a 
fair  ai^nunent. 

The  best  appeal  is  always  to  the  highest  unit  available 
in  the  experience  of  the  persons  concerned.  Taking 
the  biggest  city  with  which  the  pupil  has  personal  ac- 
quaintance, this  could  be  compared  quantitatively 
with  the  number  of  people  in  the  pupil's  native  country, 
and  then  with  the  world  population.  The  United 
States  has  a  population  that  is  rapidly  approaching  the 
good-natured  number  100,000,000,  so  the  American 
boy  will  soon  have  the  advantage  of  a  ready-made  stand- 
ard that  renders  comparison  very  easy.  It  does  not 
follow  that  the  American  boy  realises  what  the  popula- 
tion of  his  rq)ublic  means.  Yet  all  that  is  necessary  for 
intelligent  comparison  is  present. 

We  need  a  standard  unit  for  our  illustrative  work,  but 
it  is  not  always  necessary  to  reduce  our  quantitative 
illustrations  to  this  standard  unit.  It  is  enough  if  we 
have  a  unit  to  which  we  can  reduce  them  all,  if  that  be 
necessary.  We  ought  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  what  one 
square  foot  means,  an  acre,  and  if  possible,  a  square 
mile.  In  certain  towns  the  municipal  authorities  are 
good  enough  to  lay  out  somewhere  in  their  parks  a 
square  acre,  so  that  the  children  of  the  town  may  grow 
up  accustomed  to  this  as  a  standard.  The  Bank  of 
England,  in  London,  we  are  told,  covers  exactly  one 
acre  of  ground,  but  this  is  not  nearly  so  useful  a  standard 
as  the  square  acre.  The  bigger  the  quantities  we  are 
to  deal  with,  naturally  the  bigger  the  standard  unit. 
With  certain  astroncmiieal  measurements  the  unit  is 
the  radius  of  the  earth,  with  others  the  diameter  of  ^ 


316  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


moon's  orbit,  with  still  othors  the  major  axis  of  the 
earth's  orbit.  Whatever  the  standard,  it  must  be  a 
definite  one.  The  ordinary  householder  is  so  perplexed 
at  the  unintelligible  order  to  put  one  fluid  ounce  (A 
pepsin  in  a  quart  of  milk  that  he  welcomes  the  prac- 
ticable if  inexact  equivalent  of  two  tablespoonfuh. 
But  in  deliberate  illustration,  some  sort  of  standard 
should  be  insisted  on,  and  should  not  be  changed  in  the 
process  of  Exposition  or  Illustration.  In  working  witli 
money  values,  for  example,  we  may  have  occasion  to 
deal  in  several  different  coinages;  but  it  is  always  better 
to  keep  to  one  as  the  standard  during  any  one  series 
of  calculations.  Dollars  are  easily  valued  in  pounds 
sterling  as  we  go  along,  without  any  great  inaccuracy; 
but  there  is  a  great  deal  of  time  wasted  and  a  certain 
danger  of  confusion  incurred  by  continually  passing 
from  the  one  to  the  other.  Some  tourists  on  the  Conti- 
nent of  Europe  make  life  a  burden  to  their  friends  by 
dividing  by  eight  and  multiplying  by  five  at  every  kilo- 
metre stone.  In  a  kilometre  country  we  should  accept 
the  1000-metre  standard.  After  tramping  im  a  day  or 
two,  "32  kilometres"  is  as  clear  a  conception  as  is 
"20  miles"  at  home.  Of  course  where  actual  contrast 
between  the  two  standards  is  the  immediate  purpose, 
there  must  be  continual  interpretation  of  one  in  terms 
of  the  other.  But  in  most  cases  there  is  no  need  for  a 
double  standard,  and  usually  one  or  other  is  marked 
out  as  naturally  more  suited  for  the  particular  bit  of 
Exposition  in  hand  —  dollars  in  the  United  States,  kilo- 
metres in  France;  inches  in  a  popular  description,  centi- 
metres in  a  scientilic  analysis. 


CHAPTER  Xm 


Matebial  Illustrations 

When  we  try  to  classify  illustrations,  we  encounter 

certain  diflSculties.  The  first  broad  distinction  that 
suggests  itself  among  the  various  kinds  of  illustration  is 
that  between  the  real  and  the  verbal.  There  seems  a 
very  important  difference  between  mere  words  on  the 
one  hand,  and  such  aids  as  objects,  modds,  and  draw- 
ings on  the  other.  But  while  the  distinction  has  a  cer- 
tain convenience,  it  must  be  remembered  that  both 
real  and  verbal  illustrations  make  their  appeal  primarily 
to  the  same  set  of  forces:  ihe  only  way  they  can  get  at 
the  mind  is  by  rousing  ideas.  But  an  idea  may  be 
called  up  by  a  word  as  well  as  by  an  actual  object,  so 
that  the  two  kinds  of  illustrations  are  practically  one  on 
the  psychological  side.  There  is  the  more  need  to  insist 
upon  this  because  of  a  very  general  impression  among 
teachers  and  others  that  there  is  an  inherent  superi- 
ority in  things  as  compared  with  mere  woida  as  a  means 
of  illustration.  But  here,  as  elsewlme,  ''each  thing  in 
its  place  is  best."  It  has  to  be  remembered  that  verbal 
illustration  has  certain  advantages.  It  is  much  freer 
than  illustration  by  means  of  actual  objects:  it  gives 
much  mxae  scope  for  the  action  of  the  mind  appe^Jed  to, 
since  m  any  case  only  tiie  oontoat  already  acquired  can 
be  used.  The  clergyman  who  i»oduoes  an  actual  lily 
in  the  pulpit  to  illustrate  his  sermon  on  irarity  thinka  he 

817 


318  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


has  used  a  stronger  illtistration  than  if  he  had  merdy 
referred  to  the  flower.  All  that  has  happened  is  that 
he  has  aroused  a  certain  amount  of  extrinsic  interest 
that  he  must  be  exceedingly  careful  to  turn  into  in- 
trinsic interest  in  his  subject  before  he  can  hope  to  profit 
by  it  as  an  illustration.  The  children  can  take  out  of  the 
lily  only  what  the}'  were  able  to  put  into  it  before  it 
appeared  in  the  pulpit.  Anything  the  clergyman  can 
tell  them  about  the  lily  as  a  plant  will  no  doubt  increase 
the  knowledge  of  some  of  the  children.  But  this  is  the 
result  of  information  rather  than  of  illustration.  If  the 
clergyman  were  dealing  with  botany,  the  relation  be- 
tween the  lily  and  his  subject  would  be  different. 

We  must  clearly  distinguish  at  this  stage  between  an 
obj  ect  as  a  subj  ect  of  study  and  as  an  illustration.  When 
we  are  giving  instruction  on  some  actual  object,  say  in 
chemistry,  botany,  or  geology,  nothing  can  make  up 
for  the  theence  of  that  object.  People  are  now  agreed 
that  in  practical  subjects  we  must  depend  upon  practi- 
cal work.*  Nothing  can  make  up  for  the  lack  of  labora- 
tory and  field  work.  Text-book  teaching  of  practical 
subjects  is  now  universally  condenmed.   But  this 

'  This  is  the  general  view ;  but  there  are  dissentients.  Mr.  H.  W.  Eve, 
an  emeritus  headmaster  aiid  distinguished  physicist,  told  me  the  other 
cby  that  there  was  do  need  for  the  pupil  to  do  the  experiments:  all 
that  was  necessary  was  that  he  should  understand  a  description  of 
them.  Sir  William  Ramsay  says,  "  Far  too  much  stress  is  laid,  now- 
adays, on  what  is  called  'practical  work.'  It  is  possi'  le  to  have 
quite  an  intelligent  idea  of  chemistry  without  ever  having  handled 
a  teet-tube  or  touched  a  balance.  Lectures  on  chemistry  may  be  well 
illustrated  experimentally,  and  the  necessary  theories  demonstrated 
by  the  lecturer.  ...  To  spend  several  hours  a  day  in  practical  work 
f8,ff  notamste,  often,  atteaet.aworitcrfnqwmt^tion.''  Quoted 
1^  Dr.  F.  H.  Haymud  in  hia  stimulating  book,  Th»M*aning  ti  Edtf 
wttim  (p.  15). 


MATERIAL  ILLUSTRATIONS 


819 


does  not  at  all  imply  that  a  tett-tube  is  inhefently  a 

better  illustration  than  a  metaphor.  In  the  mind  of 
the  teacher  there  is  too  often  a  sort  of  descending  scale 
of  merit  in  which  possible  illustrations  are  arranged 
somewhat  in  this  way :  — 

(1)  The  real  object,  for  which  anything  else  is  a 
more  or  less  inefficient  substitute. 

(2)  A  model  of  the  real  object. 

(3)  A  picture  of  the  object. 

(4)  A  diagram  dealing  with  some  of  the  aspects  of  the 
object. 

(5)  A  mere  verbal  description  of  the  object. 

Assuming  that  the  teacher's  purpose  is  to  give  infor- 
mation on  the  object,  the  above  order  of  merit  may  to  a 
large  extent  be  justified.  But  it  should  not  be  forgot- 
ten that  under  these  circumstances  we  are  dealing  with 
mformation  and  not  with  illustration.  Too  frequently 
the  above  general  order  of  merit  is  carried  ovor  to  the 
purely  illustrative  field,  and  we  have  an  unwarrantable 
glorification  of  "objects." 

Even  with  regard  to  vhat  is  properly  called  instruc- 
tion on  a  pvea  real  object,  there  are  certain  respects 
in  which  a  modd  or  a  picture  may  be  actually  of  more 
service  than  the  thing  itself.  It  has  to  be  admitted 
that  it  is  not  always  possible  to  present  to  the  pupils 
the  real  thing.  In  all  cases  this  is  to  be  regretted.  It  is 
a  pity  that  such  things  as  Magna  Charta,  an  elephant,  a 
locomotive,  the  Port  oi  Bordeaux,  cannot  be  brought 
to  school.  The  teacher  has  reluctantly  to  do  without 
them,  unless  he  is  able  to  take  his  class  where  these  things 
may  be  seen.  With  this  desire  for  the  real  we  must  all 
sjrmpathise.  But  it  is  worth  while  noting  that  there 
are  certain  stages  in  instruction  when  a  model  is  not 


J 

320  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

only  as  good  as,  but  better  than,  the  object  it  represents. 
In  other  words,  the  model  actually  illustrates  the  real 
object.  Sometimes  the  object  is  too  large  to  be  taken 
in  at  one  sweep  of  the  eye,  and  is  therefore  difficult  to 
deal  with.  A  large  and  complicated  machine — take,  for 
examine,  a  certain  paper>making  machine  that  as  a 
matter  of  fact  covers  an  area  of  over  two  thousand 
square  feet  —  may  be  far  better  understood  from  a 
small  working  model  than  from  the  machine  itself.  So 
with  extremely  small  objects  it  is  sometimes  very  desir- 
able to  have  a  magnified  model  for  illustrative  purposes. 

It  is  obvious  that,  in  using  a  model,  abstraction  must 
be  made:  the  model  must  lose  some  of  the  qualities 
that  belong  to  the  real  object.  Sometimes  the  ab- 
straction is  ?0/  ed  to  size.  The  model  resembles  the 
original  in  every  respect  except  that  it  is  either  larger 
or  smaller.  A  model  locomotiye  may  be  an  exact  re- 
production of  one  in  actual  operation  on  a  railway. 
On  the  other  hand,  it- may  be  slightly  changed  in  certain 
details  and  yet  vey  the  general  impression  of  being 
the  same  as  the  real  locomotive;  and  the  internal  va- 
riations may  increase  in  amount,  each  new  variation 
marking  a  higher  degree  of  abstraction.  For  example, 
the  model  may  have  exactly  the  same  machinery  as 
the  original,  but  the  heat  may  be  produced  by  burn- 
ing methylated  spirits  instead  of  coal;  and  there  are 
obviously  all  the  degrees  of  increasing  abstraction 
till  we  reach  the  child's  toy  that  preserves  the  outward 
show,  but  is  worked  within  by  a  spring.  A  model  at  any 
of  these  grades  of  abstractness  may  have  its  use  as 
illustration,  everything  depending  on  the  nature  of  the 
illustrandum.  For  the  student  of  engineering  the 
model  must  be  so  accurate  that  he  can  make  from  it 


MATERIAL  ILLUSTRATIONS 


321 


meaniraxients  to  scale.   On  the  othor  hand,  in  teadi- 

ing  mechanics,  a  clockwork  loco^.otivu  is  quite  good 
enough  to  illustrate  certain  problems  of  gradients. 

In  the  case  of  students  studying  "in  the  field"  the 
struotuie  of  a  district  of  country,  say  the  Great  Lake 
area  in  the  St.  LawreiMe  bann,  it  is  found  to  be  y«y 
difficult  for  them  to  have  a  grasp  of  the  whole  sitiiatk>n. 
They  can  see  now  this  part  and  now  that,  but  they  cannot 
from  any  one  point  envisage  the  whole.  Accordingly, 
they  are  set  to  make  a  relief  map  of  the  district  in  clay 
or  plasticine.  This  is  really  a  model  of  a  high  degree  of 
abstractness.  To  b^in  with,  it  must  be  so  accurately 
worked  that  calculations  may  be  based  on  it,  allowance 
being  made  for  the  difference  between  the  horizontal 
and  the  vertical  scale.  But  the  only  real  points  of 
resemblance  between  the  model  and  the  district  are  in 
the  proportions  of  the  dimoisions.  The  material  tued 
is  of  no  consequence.  Of  course  in  a  more  daborate 
scheme  the  different  strata  might  be  represented  by 
layers  of  different  coloured  clay  contorted  so  as  to  rep- 
resent the  actual  formations.  Sometimes,  indeed,  very 
elaborat  ^  models  of  this  kind  are  made  in  glass,  so  that 
the  pupil  may,  from  the  side  of  the  case,  observe  the 
various  dips  of  the  strata,  and  note  the  faults.  But 
even  here  the  material  is  not  significant  of  the  illus- 
trandum. 

In  the  case  of  a  model  to  represent  that  bridge  over 
the  Rhine  that  has  ghren  so  much  troul^  to  every 
teacher  who  has  piloted  a  dass  tlm>ugh  CsBsar's  Com- 

meniariea,^  it  would  appear  to  be  possible  to  make  the 
model  correspond  to  the  original  in  all  the  respects  with 
which  we  are  acquainted.    While  such  a  model,  made 
>  Book  IV,  Chap.  XVII. 


322  EXPOSITION  AMD  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACBINQ 


exMtly  to  fit  the  oonditkmi  laid  down  in  Cmma^a  text, 

may  be  an  excdlent  illustration  of  that  text,  it  doet  not 
follow  that  it  is  a  good  illustration  for  the  use  of  a  party 
of  men  proposing  to  make  a  bridge  over  the  Rhine, 
and  that  not  because  engineering  has  advanced  since 
Cmmt's  time,  but  beeause  the  whole  problem  of  the 
strength  of  materials  has  to  be  recast  according  to  Uie 
actual  dimensions  of  the  real  bridge.  Stresses  and 
strains  do  not  have  the  same  effect  upon  the  same  mate- 
rial under  different  conditions  dimension.  This  is 
why  practical  men  in  general,  and  engineers  in  particu- 
lar, use  modds  for  cwtain  parts  of  their  wwk,  but  pre- 
fer to  test  their  results  on  Uie  true  scale  before  they  mo 
willing  to  apply  them. 

In  the  case  of  class  work  our  principle  should  be  the 
same  as  the  engineer  finds  useful  in  his  actual  operations : 
begin  with  the  real  object,  and  md  with  the  real  object, 
but  between  the  two  use  tJie  modd  as  hedy  as  you  like. 
In  school  we  very  Commonly  use  models  that  involve 
a  high  degree  of  abstraction.  In  the  teaching  of  botany 
we  may  have  a  greatly  enlarged  model  of  the  primrose 
made  of  papier  ;mdchi.  The  form  may  be  a  perfect 
reproduction  of  that  of  the  real  flownr;  the  colour  a  some- 
what less  accurate  reproduction.  But  there  the  resem- 
blance stops.  Abstraction  is  made  of  size,  flexibility, 
moisture,  texture,  scent.  The  sole  value  of  the  model  is 
that  its  size  enables  the  teacher  to  give  a  demonstration 
to  the  whole  class.  To  facilitate  this  the  model  is  made 
up  of  distinct  par^  which  can  be  sq>arated  from  each 
other  so  that  the  teacher  can  make  a  formal  dissection 
of  the  model,  which  dissection  may  be  afterwards  imi- 
tated by  the  members  of  the  class  while  dealing  with 
the  real  specimens  with  which  they  are  then  provided. 


MATBUAL  ILLUSTRATIONS  128 


For,  wherever  poflsible,  the  teachw  ihould  toSkm  the 
examine  oi  the  engbeer,  aiid  end  all  hie  mmid  wmk 

by  a  reference  to  the  actual  object.  Hm  piqitti  duMdd 

begin  with  an  examination  of  a  real  primroBe  actualH 
growing  in  the  garden  or  in  a  pot.  Then  <  ^meis  the 
demonstration  on  the  magnified  model,  wad  finally 
the  examioAtbii  by  each  pupil  of  Ike  «iit  ■pet^imeu 
lupfdied. 

The  same  sort  of  models  we  used  in  the  teaching 
of  biology.  The  cockchafer  is  selected  as  the  typical 
insect,  and  there  is  a  )  'fhly  complex  diseectible  model 
constructed  for  class  demonetratioiui.  But  r  !*  Higher 
degree  d  abstraction  is  reachei  is  a  series  m^ost 
models  of  some  forty  animals  prodnsed  by  a  w^-kno wn 
maker  of  school  apparatus.  One  can  understand  the 
use  of  models  in  illustrating  the  outward  appearance 
of  such  creatures  as  the  elephant,  the  camel,  and  the 
bear;  but  when  it  comes  to  ti»  hone,  the  eow,  and  the 
dog  it  may  be  naturally  adsed  utedn  eoasists  the  us»> 
fulness  of  a  set  of  models  of  creatures  that  may  be  con- 
veniently seen  in  real  life.  One  obvious  answer  is  that 
the  models  indicate  the  relative  sizes  of  the  different 
animals;  for  in  the  series  referred  to  the  creatures  are 
all  nMde  to  a  commcm  smUe.  In  ^  iMxt  plaee,  tiie 
models  are  available  in  school,  and  enable  the  pupils  to 
m',k«i  certain  observations  that  may  be  tested  by  a 
later  Lxamination  of  the  actual  animals  as  found  in  the 
open  air.  The  objection  that  the  models  are  mere 
shdls  of  animals  is  hardly  of  much  oonsequenoe.  The 
chikl  sees  as  much  of  tiie  inskie  of  the  modd  eow  as  he 
sees  of  the  inside  of  the  cow  in  the  field.  Further, 
such  models  rouse  an  interest  in  familiar  animals  that 
the  animals  themselves  cannot  command.  Just  as  the 


324  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINO 


COWS  in  a  landscape  in  a  drawing-room  attract  much 

more  attention  than  they  ever  did  in  the  meadow,  so 
the  models  in  school  interest  the  children  more  than  do 
the  real  animals  —  always  taking  it  for  granted  that 
we  are  dealing  with  animals  that  have  exhausted  the 
charms  of  novelty.  A  papier  mdchi  camel  has  little 
chance  of  surpassing  the  attractions  of  the  live  one. 
But  in  the  case  of  the  horse  it  is  different.  Most  of 
us  will  look  with  interest  at  a  model  of  something  that 
we  pay  no  attention  to  when  we  meet  it  in  real  Ufe. 
Advertisers  have  not  been  slow  to  profit  by  this  interest 
in  models,  as  is  seen  by  the  many  tiny  samples  sent  out, 
in  which  the  characteristic  bottle  or  packet  that  con- 
tains the  commodity  is  exactly  reproduced,  but  on  a 
very  small  scale.  The  same  interest  is  appealed  to 
when  the  advertiser  sends  out  a  cart  bearing  a  mam- 
moth r^resentation  of  the  bottle  or  packet. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  special  value  of  the 
model  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  gives  us  all  three  dimensions. 
It  is  therefore  assumed  that  it  is  necessarily  a  better 
form  of  illustration  than  anything  in  the  way  of  a  draw- 
ing, which,  after  all,  can  never  get  beyond  two  dimen- 
sions, with  a  suggestion  of  the  tiiird.  The  model  may 
be  viewed  from  many  different  standpoints,  and  against 
different  backgrounds.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  a 
model  of  the  reconstructed  Parthenon  at  Athens  con- 
veys a  much  more  accurate  conception  of  what  it  was 
once  like  than  can  any  mere  plan  and  elevation  sketches. 
But  for  certain  purposes  a  picture  is  a  better  illustration 
than  a  model.  For  example,  a  picture  of  the  Parthe- 
non painted  by  a  sympathetic  artist,  with  the  model 
to  keep  him  right  in  detail,  and  his  own  trained  imagi- 
nation to  interinret  in  terms  of  colour  the  old  surround- 


MATERIAL  ILL'' <L'RATI0N8 


325 


ings,  will  probably  convey  a  better  impression  of  what 
was  the  real  state  of  things  in  old  Athens  than  does 
the  mere  dead  model.  This  is  perhaps  a  characteristio 
of  the  model,  that  it  confines  itself  to  the  bare  primary 
details.  The  artist's  lay  figure  does  all  that  is  expected 
of  it  when  it  keeps  him  straight  with  regard  to  the 
three  dimensions.  Within  these  limits  it  does  its  work 
admirably,  but  it  carries  with  it  no  suggestion  of  reality. 

There  is  always  something  unreal  in  a  complicated 
model  that  is  not  necessarily  present  in  a  picture. 
Take,  for  example,  those  elaborate  models  of  various 
cities  and  ports  that  have  been  exhibited  at  certain  of  the 
great  odiibitions  in  different  parts  of  the  worid.  (A 
permanent  collection  of  this  kind  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
upper  regions  of  the  Louvre  in  Paris.)  The  observer 
has  thrust  upon  him  an  inevitable  feeling  of  triviality. 
The  models  have  all  the  appearance  of  toys.  They 
are  excellent  to  work  from.  They  give  us  a  general 
view  of  the  city  and  its  approaches  such  as  we  could  not 
get  from  any  available  point  of  view  in  the  district. 
We  can  in  a  few  minutes,  by  means  of  compasses  and 
scales,  get  any  desired  measurements.  But  we  cannot 
get  rid  of  the  feeUng  of  unreality  and  childishness. 
So  ia  d«ding  with  the  accurate  models  of  gr^t  build- 
ings  of  which  the  Germans  are  so  fond.  Tliese  moddt 
are  excellent  in  demonstrating  shapes  and  measure- 
ments, but  they  are  useless  in  reproducing  the  sesthetic 
effect  of  the  actual  building.  We  can  extract  no  en- 
thusiasm from  a  model  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome.  The 
abstraction  of  siae  has  destroyed  its  poww  to  inqirets  us. 
Models  of  the  Gothic  Cathedrals  ha  ve  a  stronger  »»- 
thetic  effect  upon  us  than  have  models  of  the  severer 
buildings  of  the  classical  times.  When  the  old  teiiq;>les 


326  EXPOdlTION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEAOHINO 

have  lost  the  grandeur  that  their  spaciousness  gave  them, 
they  have  nothing  left.  The  Gothic  Cathedrals,  too,  lose 
their  grandeur,  but  in  its  place  there  comes  a  certain 
prettiness.  Awe  is  a  sentiment  that  cannot  be  repre- 
sented on  a  reduced  scale.  Models  can  reproduce  pro- 
portions, but  not  sentiments.  They  have  all  the  defects 
of  the  diagram  as  well  as  its  merits.  They  are  indeed 
nothing  more  than  three-dimensioned  dii^pnuns. 

It  is  because  we  live  in  a  thre«Mlimrasioned  world 
that  the  model  deserves  a  place  among  our  illustrative 
apparatus.  Our  daily  exporience  makes  it  impossible 
for  us  to  overlook  the  third  dimension ;  but  overf amiliar- 
ity  with  two-dimensioned  illustrations  is  very  apt  to  lead 
to  an  UD  intelligent  way  of  regarding  certain  matters. 
The  globe,  for  example,  is  necessary  to  counteract  the 
impression  produced  by  the  "World  in  Hemispheres" 
as  it  is  presented  to  us  at  the  beginning  of  our  atlases. 
It  is  true  that  the  globe  in  its  turn  is  subject  to  abuse. 
In  his  usual  aggravating  way  Rousseau  makes  us  uncom- 
fortable by  calling  it  nothing  but  a  plaster  ball.  But 
the  teacher  does  not  want  it  to  be  anjrthing  else.  So 
long  as  he  uses  it  as  an  illustration  he  is  proclaiming  that 
it  stands  for  something  that  it  is  not.  Its  merit  is  in 
its  shape,  not  in  its  material.  This  shape  prevents  the 
illustrator  from  taking  certain  liberties  that  he  allows 
himself  when  he  has  got  rid  of  the  third  dimension. 
He  wants,  for  example,  to  show  that  the  British  Isles  oc- 
cupy the  enviable  position  of  being  in  the  very  centre 
of  the  land  hemisphere.  Accordingly,  he  does  violence 
to  all  the  known  sjrstems  of  map  projection  and  com- 
bines the  two  hemitpheres  into  a  heart-shaped  whole. 
The  British  Isles  appear  in  their  true  projection  on  the 
middle  line  that  marks  the  junction  of  the  two  halves  of 


MATERIAL  ILU78TSATION8 


327 


the  heart,  while  all  the  rest  of  the  world  wriggles  about 
in  greater, or  leas  degrees  of  distortion.  The  proper 
way  to  illustrate  the  fact  of  the  central  podti<m  of  the 
British  Isles  is  to  take  up  a  globe  and  turn  it  so  that  the 
pupil  is  looking  at  it  in  such  a  way  that  he  sees  the  great- 
est total  amount  of  land  that  it  is  possible  for  him  to 
include  in  one  view.  Once  the  model-world  is  placed  in 
this  position,  the  pupil  is  invited  to  look  tor  the  British 
Isles.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  will  find  them  not  far 
from  the  centre  of  the  part  of  the  world  at  that  moment 
visible  on  the  globe. 

It  is  in  connection  with  the  seasons  and  the  rotat.'  /U  of 
the  earth  that  the  use  of  a  tangible  ball  is  of  importance 
as  an  illustration.  No  doubt  in  teaching  such  mattera 
as  longitude  and  latitude  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  prop- 
erly constructed  globe,  with  all  the  conventional  signs 
properly  filled  in.  The  practical  teacher  is  very  often 
tempted  to  regard  this  orthodox  globe,  with  its  axis 
fixed  at  the  proper  angle  of  23^",  as  itself  the  illus- 
trandum.  He  talks  about  "teaching  tihe  i^obes," 
whereas  what  he  wants  to  say  is  that  he  teaches  certain 
relations  by  means  of  the  globe.  When  the  earth's 
relation  to  the  sun  and  to  the  other  planets  is  to  be 
illustrated,  it  is  better  to  have  a  less  formal  ball  to  deal 
with.  In  practice  it  is  found  that  a  ball  of  worsted 
with  a  knitting  needle  thrust  through  the  middle  to 
represent  the  axis  is  about  as  useful  a  form  of  globe  as 
can  be  found.  Each  pupil  should  be  supplied  with 
such  a  ball,  and  should  be  called  upon  to  manipulate  it 
as  the  teacher  describes  (»rtun  of  the  phenomena  of 
the  earth's  rotation  and  revolution.  At  the  testing 
stage  it  is  well  that  only  one  pupil  at  a  time  should 
manipulate  a  ball,  as,  if  the  daas  works  coUectively, 


328  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHINO 

tiiere  will  be  little  else  than  imitation  in  the  case  of  a 
great  many  of  the  bo:^. 

A  very  interesting  comparison  of  the  relative  values 
of  the  two-dimensioned  and  the  three-dimensioned 
illustration  may  be  had  from  comparing  the  results  of 
teaching  from  a  diagram  and  teaching  from  the  use  of 
the  ball.  The  familiar  diagram  of  the  sun  at  one  of  the 
foci  of  an  dlipse  wiUi  the  earth  in  the  four  podtions 
on  the  circumference  corresponding  to  the  four  seasons 
may  be  fully  understood  by  the  class.  That  is,  the 
pupils  may  be  able  to  say  honestly  that  they  understand 
the  diagram  and  are  able  to  answer  questions  on  it.  Now 
arrange  for  an  experiment.  On  a  table  on  an  open 
space  on  the  floor  place  a  candle  or  anjrthing  else  that 
will  represent  the  sun,  and  then  call  out  one  of  the 
pupils  and  ask  him  to  carry  his  ball  of  worsted  round  the 
supposed  sun,  in  such  a  way  as  to  represent  the  revolu- 
tion of  the  earth,  and  thus  dmionstrate  the  cause  of 
the  seasons.  In  a  large  parentage  of  cases  in  which 
this  experiment  has  been  made,  the  pupil  moved  round 
the  sun,  keeping  the  axis  jealously  fixed  at  what  he 
believed  to  be  23J°  from  the  vertical,  but  point- 
ing at  the  sun  all  the  time.  This  occurs  even  when 
stress  has  been  laid  by  the  teaeho*  on  the  fact  that  the 
earth's  axis  is  always  "  parallel  to  itself."  The  fixed  angle 
of  23J°  satisfies  the  mind's  requirement  in  this  respect, 
and  nothing  short  of  the  Confrontation  implied  in  the 
permanent  winter  of  the  side  remote  from  the  sun  in 
the  actual  experiment  will  rouse  the  pupil  to  the  neces- 
sary dissatisfaction  with  his  view  as  gathwed  from  the 
plane  diagrpm. 

An  orrery  supplies  a  striking  example  of  ineflfectivn 
ness  in  illustration.   The  motiuiis  of  the  planets  and 


MATERIAL  ILLUSTRATIONS 


329 


thdr  BfttelUtes  can  be  reproduced  in  a  very  accurate 
way,  but  the  mental  effect  oS  the  whole  is  discouraging. 
The  distance  effect  is  as  much  lacking  here  as  in  the 
case  of  models  of  huge  buildings.  Sir  John  Herschel 
speaks  very  strongly  of  the  futility  of  giving  an  idea  of 
the  sizes  and  distances  of  the  planets  by  this  means, 
and  sets  forth  a  scheme  of  his  own  to  convey  the  desired 
information: — 

"Choose  any  well-levelled  field  or  bowling-green.  On  H  plaoe 
a  globe  two  feet  diameter;  this  will  represent  the  ran ;  Mercury 
will  he  represented  by  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  on  the  circumference 
of  a  circle  164  feet  in  diameter  its  orbit;  Venus  a  pea,  on  a  drde 
284  feet  in  diameter ;  the  Earth  also  a  pea,  on  a  circle  of  430  feet ; 
Mars  a  rather  large  pin's  head,  on  a  circle  of  654  feet ;  Juno,  Ceres, 
Vesta,  and  Pallas  grains  of  sand  in  orbits  (rffeom  1000  to  1200  feet; 
Jupiter  a  moderate-sized  orange,  in  a  circle  nearly  half  a  mile  across ; 
Saturn  a  small  orange,  on  a  circle  of  four-fifths  of  a  mile ;  Uranus  a 
full-sized  cherry,  or  small  plum,  upon  the  circumference  of  a  circle 
more  than  a  mile  and  a  half ;  and  Neptune  a  good-sized  plum  on  a 
circle  about  two  miles  and  a  half  in  diameter.  As  to  getting  correct 
notions  on  this  subject  by  drawing  circles  on  paper,  or,  still  worse, 
from  those  very  diUdidi  toyn  called  ramies,  it  is  out  (tf  the  quai- 
tion. ' » 

This  illustration  faib  in  many  directioin.  To  b^in 
with,  there  is  a  lack  of  a  definite  standard  ci  mse. 

What  is  the  standard  size  of  a  pea,  a  cherry,  a  plum,  an 
orange  ?  Who  is  to  determine  how  big  a  large  pin's 
head  is  ?  Further,  whatever  the  real  size  of  a  pea,  the 
effec'.  that  the  illustration  produces  on  the  mind  of  the 
ordinary  reader  is  that  Venus  is  larger  than  it  really  is 
in  proportion  to  the  earth.  If  it  is  said  that  all  that  is 
wanted  is  to  convey  a  general  impression,  the  answer 
is  that  the  illustration  invites  comparisons,  and  suggests 

'  Outlines  qf  Astronomy  (1849),  p.  323. 


330  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

by  its  discriminatioii  among  the  various  qualifying 
adjectives  that  the  eomparisons  are  amnirate.  Again, 
the  distances  should  be  kept  to  the  same  standard: 
they  ought  all  to  be  expressed  in  feet.  These  criticisms 
are  not  the  outcome  of  arm-chair  reflection.  They 
express  the  complaints  of  many  classes  of  students 
(ages  ranging  from  ei|^teen  to  twmty-one)  who  have 
been  offered  instruction  through  this  illustration. 

The  truth  is  that  what  are  called  real  illustrations, 
those  that  deal  with  actual  objects,  have  the  defects  of 
their  quality,  and  fail  because  of  the  very  virtue  on  which 
real  illustration  prides  itself  —  reality.  Three-dimen- 
sioned illustoations  sadly  hampw  the  freedom  of  tbd 
pupil's  imagination.  If  we  are  to  picture  certain  grams 
of  sand  in  a  preposterous  bowling-green  two  and  a  half 
miles  wide,  we  find  that,  so  far  from  being  helped  by  our 
illustration,  we  are  really  hindered  in  our  efforts  to 
figure  out  the  sizes  and  distances  of  the  planets.  Her- 
schd's  illustration  cotainly  aids  us  in  respect  of  the 
concept  of  distance,  and  gets  rid  of  the  toy  effect 
of  the  orrery;  but  in  so  far  as  it  substitutes  peas  and 
cherries  for  the  spheres  of  the  orrery,  it  introduces  limit- 
ing elements.  After  all,  a  diagram  leaves  the  mind 
freer  than  do  these  concrete  comparisons. 

Sir  John  Herschel's  illustration  has  been  largely  used 
by  teachers,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  changes 
they  have  made.  It  is  generally  used  in  schools  in  tabu- 
lar form  rather  than  as  a  description.  Venus  is  rep- 
resented by  "a  pea,"  but  the  earth  by  "a  larger  pea"  — 
so  strong  is  the  teacher's  love  of  accuracy  and  the  pupils' 
of  fair  play.  The  only  other  important  change  is  that 
many  teachers  prefer  to  cut  down  the  distances  by  one- 
half,  taking  the  radius  in  preference  to  the  diameter. 


MATERIAL  ILLUSTRATKMrS 


331 


Another  debatable  use  of  the  solid  as  illustratioii  is 
to  be  found  in  the  glyptie  formula  of  Hofmann.  Not 

content  with  the  elaborate  patterns  of  the  graphic 
formulae  that  were  used  to  represent  such  complicated 
chemical  combinations  as  Dicobaltic  tetranmion-hexa- 
ammonic  hexachloride  (called  purpureo-cobaU  chloride, 
for  short),  Hofmum  launched  out  into  the  third  dimen- 
sion, and  invented  a  system  of  spheres  of  about  tiie  siae 
of  billiard  balls '  of  various  colours,  each  having  one  or 
more  little  tubes  projecting  from  its  surface,  accord- 
ing as  it  was  intended  to  represent  a  monad,  a  dyad, 
or  an  atom  of  some  higher  valoicy.  By  means  of  eon- 
necting  rods  of  various  curvature,  Hofmann  was  able  to 
build  up  symmetrical  combinations  to  indicate  how  tiie 
elements  united  with  each  other  and  formed  more  or 
less  permanent  wholes.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any- 
thing was  gained  by  all  this  elaboration,  for  the 
modds  did  not  even  pretend  to  reproduce  a  state  of 
affairs  that  actually  existed.  If  Sir  John  Herschd 
fails  in  making  us  realise  the  solar  system,  it  is  because 
we  cannot  properly  represent  what  actually  exists. 
In  the  case  of  the  chemical  formulae,  the  teacher  has  to 
warn  his  pupils  against  imagining  that  what  he  sees 
in  the  modd  represents  what  actually  takes  place  m 
chemical  process.  Dr.  Edward  Frankland,  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Chemistry,  London,  himself  an  excel- 
lent teacher,  made  extensive  use  of  both  glyptic  and 
graphic  formulae.  He  tells  us  in  the  Preface  to  his 
well-known  compendium : ' — 

'  Later,  the  tetrahedral  formwai  introduced  to  enable  the  teacher 
to  give  demonstrations  of  combining  imdeeiil«  by  tamoa  of  oramoon 

elements. 

'  Lecture  Notes  for  Chemical  StiidenU,  1866. 


832  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


"  I  am  ftware  that  grai^o  and  ^rfrtte  larmvSm  may  be  objeeted 

to  on  the  ground  that  students,  even  when  specially  warned  against 
such  an  interpretation,  will  be  liable  to  regard  them  as  representa- 
tions of  the  actual  physical  poMtion  of  the  aUwis  oi  compounds. 
In  practice  I  have  not  found  this  evil  to  arise ;  and  even  if  it  did 
occasionally  occur,  I  should  deprecate  it  Ie«*  than  ignonuaoe  <rf  aU 
notions  of  atomic  constitution." 

But  surely  the  concluding  sentence  is  somewhat 
strong.  Are  we  shut  up  to  the  alternative  of  i^yptic 
formulsB  or  "ignorance  of  all  notions  of  atomic  consti- 
tution" ?  The  fact  is  that  there  are  tjrpes  of  mind  that 
find  the  gljrptic  formulae  repellent,  and  others  that  revel 
in  them  with  such  delight  as  to  lead  to  danger  of  con- 
founding the  illustration  with  the  illustrandum.  The 
other  day  a  student  of  the  sewnd  type  brougjit  forward 
a  scheme  for  making  "a  model  of  Uie  mind"  on  gl3i)tic 
principles.  Each  idea  was  to  be  represented  by  a  ball, 
and  the  apperception  masses  were  to  be  built  up  sepa- 
rately, and  then  combined  with  each  other  by  uniting 
the  differmt  masses  by  means  of  common  elements. 
Reflection  for  a  few  minutes  shows  how  unworkable  the 
scheme  is,  and  yet  it  has  great  possibilities  in  the  way 
of  illustration.  One  of  its  main  advantages  would  be 
that  it  would  convince  the  students  that  an  atomic 
theory  of  ideas  is  only  an  iUustration  of  a  system  that 
cannot  be  fully  explained  on  this  bams. 

When  material  illustrations  are  used  in  connection 
with  solid  geometry,  they  have  to  fulfil  the  very  function 
that  Dr.  Frankland  warned  his  students  against.  They 
must  be  "representations  of  the  actual  physical  pofi- 
tion"  of  the  elements  of  the  illustrandum.   There  can 

'  Tet  it  was  with  regard  to  one  ci  Ute  plates  of  giaphic  formula 

in  Dr.  Frankland's  book  that  the  Oxford  don  remarked,  "Ah,  Isu|H 
pose  that  is  how  the  gases  look  under  the  microscope." 


MATERIAL  ILLUSTRATIONS  888 


be  no  question  of  the  vidue  of  cardboard  models  in 
illustrating  the  exasperating  little  diagrams  that  adom 

the  eleventh  book  of  Euclid,  even  thou^  the  seven 
mathematician  looks  askance  at  any  attempt  to  rep- 
resent the  realities  of  which  he  makes  abstraction. 
In  projection,  sections,  development,  and  penetration 
the  use  of  standard  modeb  is  of  the  graateet  value. 
Often  all  that  is  wanted  is  a  glance  at  the  actual  modd. 
It  is  diflferent  with  some  of  the  elaborate  apparatus  de- 
vised to  make  dull  students  understand  the  projection 
of  points  and  lines  on  the  two  coordinate  planes.  After 
taking  many  classes  through  a  course  in  descriptive 
geometoy,  and  using  with  Umn  aU  nnfflnw  of  appara> 
tus,  I  am  convinced  that,  in  teadaii^  the  dements  of  tiie 
subject,  all  the  elaborate  arrangements  of  beads  and 
threads  and  pins  are  worse  than  useless.  If  the  candi- 
date cannot  understand  the  dots  and  lines  above  and 
bdow  the  line  of  interaeetion  in  a  given  diagram,  he  is 
not  at  all  likely  to  understand  the  aggravating  eompUea- 
tions  introduced  by  way  of  illustration.  This  is  one  of 
the  cases  in  which  the  illustrandum  is  clearer  than  the 
illustration.  An  arrangement  in  cardboard  or  wood  by 
which  the  two  coordinate  planes  can  be  represented  as 
cuttmg  eaeh  other,  and  thus  riiowuig  the  four  dihedral 
angles  and  the  line  of  intersection  (almost  universally 
named  XY)  is  &  simple  piece  of  apparatus  that  should 
always  be  available.  It  is  usually  made  so  that  the  two 
coordinate  planes  may  be  made  to  rotate  on  so  as 
to  (practically)  coincide,  and  thus  illuBtrate  the  relation 
of  the  various  dihedral  az^es  to  the  plane  6[  the  paper 
on  which  the  pupil's  drawing  is  to  be  made.  Such  a  bit 
of  apparatus  is  extremely  simple,  and  leaves  the  pupil's 
imagination  quite  free  with  r^ard  to  individual  prob- 


334  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACBINO 

lemsi  while  rigidly  restricting  it  as  to  the  conditiras  <rf 
all  problems. 

Generally  speaking,  there  is  a  tendency  in  all  material 
illustrations  to  become  too  elaborate,  and  the  teacher  is 
apt  to  think  that  their  value  is  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  time  he  spends  in  their  preparation.  In 
actual  teaching  their  value  is  often  in  inverse  ratio. 
It  is  different  in  the  ease  in  which  the  pupils  themselves 
take  a  part  in  preparing  the  apparatus.  When  this 
occurs,  they  acquire  that  familiarity  with  the  subject 
that  in  the  other  case  is  confined  to  the  teacher. 

The  ideal  use  of  teaching-models  is  to  have  them 
made  by  the  pupils,  not  merely  as  teaching^Uustra- 
tions  but  as  a  substantive  part  of  their  intellectual  work. 
It  is  not  a  case  of  making  things,  but  of  thinking  thoughts 
and  expressing  them  in  a  material  form.  My  colleague. 
Dr.  T.  Percy  Nunn,  has  contrived  to  get  several  classes 
of  quite  young  pupils  to  make  drawing  and  models 
embodying  their  own  obs^ations  of  the  sun  and  the 
moon,  and  has  obtained  astonishing  results  in  the  way 
of  clear  thinking  on  matters  that  greatly  puzzle  most 
adults.  Boys  of  twelve,  starting  from  the  daily  measure- 
ment of  the  sun's  shadow  at  noon,  have  themaelvea 
worked  out  all  the  calculations  necessary  to  develop  the 
curve  of  the  sun's  apparent  path  through  the  heavens, 
and  ended  by  making  a  cardboard  model  of  this  path 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  clear  the  relation  between 
the  apparent  path  of  the  sun  and  the  real  path  of  the 
earth.  These  boys  talk  on  such  matters  now  with  an 
ease  that  disconcerts  the  ordinary  educated  man,  who 
has  always  to  pause  and  reflect  before  he  ventures  to 
make  any  statement  that  correlates  the  real  with  the 
apparent  in  the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 


MATERIAL  ILLUSTRATIONS 


835 


Dr.  Nunn  himMlf  writM:  "I  ahrayB  regard  my  moddi 
as  being  devices  to  aid  the  boy  in  'colligating'  his  own 
observations.  They  differ  from  the  usual  models  in 
not  aiming  at  dispensing  with  first-hand  observations. 
That  is,  I  think,  why  they  are  effective.  The  boy 
thinks  of  the  facU  by  the  aid  of  the  aymbols." 


CHAPTER  xrr 


The  i'lcTi  itE  AS  Illustration 

From  one  pdnt  of  view  a  picture  is  necessarily  more 
abstract  than  a  model.    One  aspect  of  reality  is  seized 
upon  and  elaborated.    Even  in  the  case  of  the  m«  re  re- 
production of  reality  in  a  photograph  there  i8  abstrac- 
tion.  We  are  Umited  to  one  pomt  <rf  view  aod  to  tlie 
eorresponding  background.   The  model  m»y  be  viewed 
from  many  standpoints,  and  from  each  standpoint  tkiirci 
is  a  different  background.    All  the  laws  of  linear  per- 
spective enrich  the  possibilities  of  models  as-  iliusr  rations. 
When  we  CMunder  a^»ial  perspective  and  the  laws  of 
odour,  we  find  still  further  need  for  sbstettetion  foreed 
upon  the  picture  as  a  means  of  illustration.  The 
painter  must  select  the  particula  r  set  of  colours  that  marlr 
the  moment  chosen  for  the  paintint.    The  fact  that  th 
coioors  of  an  object  or  a  scene  change  irom  hour  to  hour 
almost  from  moment  to  mommt,  has  alwa^  been  k^yim 
but  has  of  late  years  been  mom  cleariy  reec^nised 
The  school  of  Impressionist  painters  \ave  done  valu- 
able work  in  bringing  home  to  us  this  important  far  ? 
They  claim  that  it  is  the  artist's  business  to  paint  light 
as  represented  by  odour.   They  ouj^t  to  be  called 
Chromatists  rather  than  fa^ressic^ta.   One  cimB^ 
look  at  Claude  Monet's  series  of  hay-riein    i  athetbale 
without  realising  that  one  picture  can  r^nresent  only  ip 
out  of  many  aspei  -  of  the  same  =>o^t  is    ipect  of 


THE  PICTUaB  AM  ILLUmAmN 


337 


edour,  just  m  it  can  ipycicnt  o^y  one  ntp&ei  wHh  f«- 
gud  to  lixMir  per^>ectiv«  Tliig  painter's  methods  m 
his  careful  studies  <rf  light  aad  ookw  have  been  thus 
described:  — 

"He  11^  to  take  ^^th  hn  in  carrinsrr  ^^t  sunrise  somi 
twenty  canvases » hteh  h«  .anger  i  ui  iioui  i^,  taking  them 
up  ai^in  lae  nex'  iay.    U  note«,  fo*"  f  "Wf  ie,  from  nine  to  ten 

I  not"    hay-rick;  at  ten 
•\  f       mcnces  the  study 
P        op  fhf^  modifica- 
^         *  sin  itaneously 
Held       ity  times 
all  ulucrent.    1.  exhibits 
the  maipo  of  hii  tMrmh, 


1)'  lo.  -  thenwst  «Rjb%kefffri>.  of  sun' 
oVii     hp  pasw  OT   oanotb(  "can' 


lock 


until  ♦•k'ven  «    lock     Thus  b»  foli  .u 
tions  of  tlie  atmospi,  rf  \uitil  nu 
the  who.  ^ri       Hi       po   '     a  li:. 
over,  an(j  thv    v         aay-^  ar< 
them  tog(  -w,  and     e  can  f' 5     ,  b- 
ths  bistorv  (4  Kgh'  |%  'ii^;  u   a.  one  and  the  SKne  object." ' 

Wlien  we  exsamm  th  sae  eaify  morning  hay-ricks,  late 
mors^  luty-fidcfh  nc^  n^de  hay-ricks,  afternoon  hay- 

liekf^  and  ening  ha  icks,  we  find  that  each  has  its 
inH  i(i  iahi  and  >  i  is  o  ily  one  "real  hay-rick." 
If  I   Tt  be  this  ;  ug      the  case  of  such  an  emi- 

nenrly  good  sitt*         hay-rick,  what  must  be  said  of 
t  he  perteaii       ^   work  7  What  hdp  ean  we  expect 
n  i»  pcwt'"  vit  in  f  rming  an  idea  of  even  what  a  man's 
it  >  ir  ]  ai  '^arai  e  is  like,  to  say  nothing  of  what  his 
nnr&i    r         Somo  historical  portraits  are  done  in 
"ir^Hca;     the  w^iip  including  a  from  'iew  and  the 
ro  es.      li   nves  us  a  ootain  amount  of  hdp, 
bti    or  n  e(mij     e  ifiustration  of  the  ^ppearanee  of  an 
historicui  charat  .er  we  would  require  a  gallery  of  por- 
t  lits.    Were  it  not  that  Velasquez  was  a  court  painter, 
V  e  might  look  to  his  many  pictures  of  Philip  IV  as  at 

CainiUe  Ibuclair :  Th$  Fmuk  tmftnmAamiaU,  Eni^  tmndatkm, 

p.  130. 


If] 
ii 


338  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

least  approximate  material  for  forming  an  idea  of  how 

that  monarch  really  looked. 

In  view  of  all  this  limitation  in  the  case  of  persons 
who  really  existed,  what  are  we  co  say  when  we  come 
to  deal  with  matters  in  which  there  is  no  longer  any 
standard  in  existence  ?  If  we  are  so  doubtful  about  the 
mere  face  of  an  important  character  in  an  historical 
scene,  we  can  realise  to  some  extent  how  helpless  we  are 
in  the  hands  of  the  historical  painter.  There  are  indeed 
as  many  Fields  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  as  there  are  painters 
who  have  ventured  to  reproduce  the  scene.  Naturally 
this  raises  the  question  of  the  value  of  pictures  in  text- 
books of  history.  Some  teachers  object  to  any  picture 
that  does  not  confine  itself  to  the  mere  details  of  dress, 
architecture,  and  general  archseological  matters  of  which 
we  have  certain  knowledge.  From  this  point  of  view 
historical  illustration  is  a  sort  of  antiquated  fashion- 
plate.  The  ideal  illustrations  would  have  to  be  culled 
from  the  learned  German  tomes  that  contain  reproduc- 
tions of  the  fluctuating  fashions  throughout  the  cen- 
turies. 

Such  teachers  maintun  that  all  pictures  describmg 
an  actual  incident  must  of  necesmty  be  wrong.  The 
one  thing  that  may  safely  be  asserted  about  the  incident 
is  that,  however  it  happened,  it  did  not  happen  in  just 
the  way  the  painter  has  represented.  Mathematical 
laws  are  invoked  to  prove  the  infinitely  remote  chance 
of  all  the  combinations  coming  ri|^t  in  a  giv^  r^re- 
sentation  of  the  incident. 

If  yon  care  to  go  to  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at  Ox- 
ford, you  will  find  under  a  glass  case  certain  pieces  of 
old  iron  that  are  labelled  as  being  the  identical  lantern 
used  by  Guy  Fawkes  on  a  certain  fateful  fifth  of  Novem- 


THE  PICTURE  AS  ILLUSTRATION 


339 


ber.  It  does  not  appear  that  there  k  any  question  about 
the  g^uineness  of  ihe  dfbria,  and  visitors  are  sometimes 
able  to  get  up  quite  a  pleasant  degree  of  excitement  at 
the  sight  of  the  scrap-iron.  The  fashion-plate  teachers 
regard  the  remains  with  favour,  and  would  willingly 
provide  all  English  schools  with  at  least  a  photograph  of 
them  in  the  unavoidable  absence  of  the  inspiring  origi- 
nals. To  these  teachers  a  spirited  picture  of  the  arrest 
of  the  traitor  is  regarded  as  dangerously  misleading, 
because  it  cannot  possibly  be  "true." 

"Do  these  little  people,"  we  may  ask,  with  a  distinguished 
American  novelist,  "know  that  Scott's  arehcol<^  was  about  <mm 
thousand  years  'out'  in  ''vanhoe,  and  that  to  make  a  parallel  we 
must  conceive  of  a  writer  describing  Richelieu,  say,  in  small 
clothes  and  a  top  hat  ?  But  is  it  not  Richelieu  we  want,  and  Ivan- 
hoe,  not  thnr  doihoi,  their  annour?" ' 

All  the  same,  while  a  protest  is  necessary  against  tiie 

^ceasive  attention  given  to  archaeological  details,  there 
is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  deliberately  neglecting  them. 
//  Scott  is  one  thousand  years  wrong  in  his  archseology, 
it  is  something  to  be  condoned,  not  admired.  Veronese's 
picture  of  the  "Marriage  at  Cana"  is  perhi^M  none  the 
less  a  masterpiece,  tiioug}i  he  has  put  t^e  people  into  the 
clothes  of  his  contemporaries;  but  the  work  is  not  im- 
proved by  the  anachronism.  As  teachers  we  must  be  as 
accurate  as  we  can  without  becoming  pedantic. 

The  points  to  be  determined  in  connection  with  a 
picture  of  an  historical  scene  as  illustraUon  are  mainly 
two:  tiie  one  native,  the  other  positive.  First,  the 
picture  must  not  contaiii  anything  that  contradicts 
historical  evidence;  it  must  be  consistent  with  all  that 
we  know  of  the  period.   Secondly,  it  ought  to  throw 

>  Fimnk  Norris :  Tha  Ren>«nnMitiM  of  the  Noveliit,  1903,  p.  17. 


340  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IS  TEACHING 

some  light  on  the  scene  depicted;  it  ou|^t  to  embody 
an  idea. 

It  is  obvious  that  a  picture  may  fulfil  both  these 
conditions,  and  at  the  same  time  do  a  great  deal  to 
teach  the  details  of  the  dress,  architecture,  and  mode 
of  living  of  the  time.  The  danger  is  that  these  details 
may  become  too  prominent,  and  the  picture  acquire 
that  purposeless  air  that  mark'j  the  fashion-plate.  A 
novel  with  a  purpose  is  usually  a  poor  novel,  because  it 
was  not  the  writer's  main  purpose  to  make  a  good  novel. 
So  the  fashion-plate  picture  fails  because  its  purpose 
is  to  be  a  good  fashion-plate,  and  not  to  be  a  good 
picture. 

It  has  to  be  remembered  that  every  picture,  historical 
or  other,  however  well  executed,  limits  the  mind  of  the 
spectator  in  dealing  with  the  scene  depicted.  Once  a 
set  of  elraaents  have  been  combined  in  a  definite  way,  the 
mind  finds  it  difficult  to  break  up  the  connection  and 
recombine  them.  Young  clergymen  of  great  ability 
and  originality  have  complained  that  they  had  to  give 
up  reading  the  published  sermons  of  the  great  English 
preacher,  Robertson,  of  Brighton,  for  the  reason  that 
once  they  had  read  one  of  these  sermons,  the  text  re- 
mained ever  aft«r  a  forbidden  one  for  them,  since  it  was 
impossible  to  preach  upon  it  without  seeming  to 
have  plagiarised.  The  treatment  of  the  subject  in  the 
printed  sermon  seemed  to  them  so  thorough  and 
altogether  so  satisfactory,  that  there  appeared  to  be  no 
other  way  in  which  it  could  be  propo^y  dealt  with. 

The  same  difficulty  is  experienced  by  anyone  who 
wishes  to  make  a  new  illustration  of  some  principle  that 
is  stated  and  particularly  well  illustrated  in  a  text-book. 
The  combination  of  dements  is  so  well  made  in  the 


THE  PICTURE  AS  ILLUSTRATION  341 


original  illustration  that  the  reader  finds  his  way  blodnd. 
He  may  break  up  the  illustration  into  its  constituoit 

ideas,  but  these  show  a  strong  tendency  to  recombine  on 
their  old  lines.  While  this  is  true  of  all  sorts  of  combi- 
nations, it  is  particularly  true  of  those  that  have  been 
formed  in  spatial  relations.  A  description  of  a  certain 
incident  may  be  given,  and  the  hear«r  may  make  a 
more  or  less  vivid  mental  picture  of  the  occurrence ; 
s^ill,  as  a  rule,  this  picture  can  be  easily  replaced  by 
another.  But  if  the  scene  has  been  expressed  in  terms 
of  space  and  colour  in  an  external  picture,  it  is  very  diffi- 
cult indeed  to  make  a  mental  reconstruction.  The  less 
exact  the  verbal  description  the  more  dangerous  is  the 
external  picture  as  a  det«rmining  force,  for  the  more 
is  left  to  the  draughtsman.  Poetry,  for  example,  is  sel- 
dom well  illustrated.  For  this  there  are  two  reasons. 
Fu^t,  it  requires  a  poet  to  illustrate  a  poet.  So  far 
as  the  reados  of  a  poet  are  aUe  to  appreciate  his 
writings,  so  far  are  they  also  poets,  though  they  play  a 
more  passive  part  than  that  of  the  poet  who  writes. 
Apart  from  power  of  execution,  the  minimum  demand 
from  an  artist  who  proposes  to  illustrate  poetry  is  that 
he  should  be  himself  at  least  a  passive  poet.  The 
second  rawon  is  timt  many  of  the  most  charming  things 
in  a  poem  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  cannot  be 
illustrated.  Their  merit  lies  in  their  elusiveness;  a 
certain  vagueness  is  of  their  very  nature.  To  make 
a  picturt  o  atan's  massive  bulk  as  he  "lay  floating 
many  a  i<  i  is  to  reduce  poetry  to  a  m<»e  or  less 
ecact  science.  Whethor  we  will  orno,  a  pietiixe  tends 
itself  to  drawing  to  scale. 

Minds  of  fine  calibre  usually  object  to  illustrations 
in  both  poetry  and  fiction.   The  artist  interferes  with 


342  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

their  freedom.  The  influrace  of  the  fait  accompli  is 
powerful  in  all  departments  of  life,  but  nowhere  is  it 
more  powerful  than  here.  After  seeing  a  picture  of  a 
character  in  a  n  )vel,  it  is  very  difficult  indeed  to  con- 
ceive of  that  character  under  a  different  face.  Strongly 
imaginatiye  visuals  have  usually  invented  for  them- 
Lalves  a  very  clearly  defined  picture  of  each  of  the 
diaracters  of  a  story,  and  of  characters  in  history  whose 
faces  have  not  been  handed  down  to  us.  Such  persons 
resent  any  picture  that  is  not  theirs.  They  say  that 
this  picture  is  not  like  the  character,  that  is,  is  not  like 
the  picture  th^  have  formed  in  their  minds. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  th^  are  many  who  are  unable 
to  form  a  mental  picture  corresponding  to  a  descrip- 
tion. These  welcome  illustrations,  and  all  they  demand, 
is  that  the  illustration  shall  correspond  to  the  facts 
contained  in  the  text.  This  very  simple  demand  is  far 
less  frequently  complied  with  than  one  would  expect. 
Authors  have  a  standing  grievance  against  artists  for 
blundering  in  their  representations  of  the  matters  dealt 
with  in  the  text.  The  author  makes  the  prisoner  gaze 
gloomily  at  the  four  tiny  squares  of  sunlight  that  the 
prison  window  allows  to  fidl  upon  the  opposite  wall, 
and  the  artist  represents  nine  tiny  squares.  The  au- 
thor complains  that  the  artist  has  not  read  the  book 
with  sufficient  care.  On  the  other  hand,  the  artist 
often  complains  of  the  carelessness  of  the  author.  An 
artist  friend  of  mine  had  the  satisfaction  lately  of  writ- 
ing to  an  author  that  if  a  certain  character  were  to 
be  depicted  as  doing  what  the  author  said  he  did,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  draw  the  character  with  an  arm 
twenty  feet  long.  Indeed,  it  is  mainly  in  connection 
with  illustrations  that  discrepancies  between  different 


THE  PICTURE  AS  ILLUSTRAflON 


343 


parte  of  Uie  text  are  exposed.  Of  the  two  the  author 

has  the  safer  position.  He  may,  and  frequently  does, 
make  a  slip  in  his  topography  without  anyone  being  a 
bit  the  wiser-  A  careful  examination  of  the  work  of 
almost  any  popular  writer  of  fiction  will  show  up  some 
inconsistencies  that  have  never  been  found  out  by  the 
public,  because  the  different  p  .rts  are  not  confronted 
with  each  other.  This  confrontation  is  frequently 
forced  on  by  the  artist,  whose  work  naturally  gives  itself 
over  to  criticism  of  this  kind. 

An  interesting  parallel  may  be  drawn  between  the 
concept  and  the  image,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
author-picture  and  the  artist-picture,  on  the  other. 
As  the  concept  has  the  power  of  crystallising  out  into  a 
definite  image,  so  the  author-conception  of  the  group- 
ing of  elements  may  be  crystallised  out  into  the  picture 
of  the  artist. 

The  artist  stands  between  the  author  and  the 
reader.  By  means  of  words  ideas  pass  from  the  author 
to  the  reader.  So  far  as  these  ideas  are  capable  of 
pictorial  representation,  they  may  be  very  vaguely  set 
forth  in  the  author's  mind,  axid  as  vaguely  in  the  minds 
of  many  of  his  readers.  Sonw  of  the  readers  may  have 
a  much  clearer  and  even  more  accurate  picture  than  the 
author  himself.  So  long  as  there  is  no  flagrant  contra- 
diction between  the  author-picture  and  the  reader- 
picture,  the  two  may  exist  comfortably  side  by  side  with- 
out either  author  or  reader  bdng  aware  how  different 
the  two  picturoB  are.  This  agreement  in  difference  is 
possible  only  because  there  is  no  objective  standard  to 
which  both  pictures  may  be  referred.  The  moment  the 
artist  comes  along,  his  picture  supplies  the  missing 
standard,  and  both  author  and  reader  are  able  to  com- 


344  EXPOSITION  AMD  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


pare  their  picture  with  thia  externa!  standard.  Very 
atim  tkt  artut's  picture  i,in  miiiiiiii  neitii^  to  the 
author's  picture  nor  to  any  of  the  iwetures  formed  by 
the  readers.  Indeed,  it  would  be  very  wonderful  if  the 
artist's  picture  did  coincide  at  all  points  witii  any  other 
picture.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  case  of  a  careful 
and  ridlful  artist,  than  wiE  pn^bably  be  bo  justifiable 
differaiee  between  tbe  author's  account  and  its  transla- 
tion into  terms  of  space.  Each  reader  will  probably 
say,  "Well,  it  is  not  just  what  I  thought  it  would  be, 
but  it  is  quite  in  keeping  with  what  the  book  tells  us, 
so  I  suppose  it's  all  right."  It  sometimes  happens, 
indeed,  that  a  r^er  of  exceptional  experience  may  have 
a  truer  picture  than  either  the  author  or  the  artist, 
if  by  truth  we  mean  fidelity  to  things  as  they  really  are. 
An  author,  for  example,  lays  the  scene  of  his  story  in  a 
country  that  he  has  never  visited.  He  has  carefully  read 
up  his  subject,  and  has  acquired  quite  a  store  of  second- 
hand local  colour.  The  book  is  illustrated  by  an  artist 
who  also  has  never  visited  the  country,  and  the  illustra- 
tions are  quite  satisfactory  to  the  author,  who  has  no  ob- 
jective standard  by  which  to  test  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  reader  who  knows  the  country  in  question  might 
read  the  unillustrated  book  with  pleasure  and  under- 
standing and  never  suspect  that  its  author  had  no  first- 
hand knowledge  of  the  country,  for  this  reader  would 
interpret  all  that  was  said  in  terms  of  his  own  experi- 
ence,* and  would  form  for  himself  correct  pictures  with- 

*  An  excellent  illustration  of  what  goes  on  unconsciously  in  the 
mind  of  such  a  reader  is  to  be  found  in  the  twenty-ninth  chapter  of 
Ivanhoe,  where  the  wounded  knight  consciously  and  delibemtely  inter- 
prets what  Rebecca  tells  lifaa  about  Una  doiosi  ot  tbe  besfafen  of 
Torquilstoae  Castle. 


THE  PICTUEB  AS  ILLUSTRATION  345 


out  suspecting  that  they  did  not  correspond  to  what  had 
been  in  the  author's  mind.  Naturally,  if  the  author 
goes  into  detailed  descriptions,  he  is  almost  sure  to 
betray  himself  to  the  reader  who  really  knows,  but  he 
has  at  least  a  chance  of  gettmg  off  undetected,  and  I 
have  known  several  cases  in  which  such  an  author  has 
been  quite  successful.  But  so  soon  as  an  illustrated 
edition  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  specially  well-informed 
reader,  discrepancies  are  at  once  detected. 

It  is  much  easier  to  hide  one's  ignorance  in  writing 
than  in  drawing.   No  doubt  if  a  manuscript  by  an 
author  depending  upon  second-hand  knowledge  is 
submitted  to  minute  analyris  by  a  person  well  versed  at 
first  hand  in  the  matter  described,  it  is  ahnoet  impossible 
for  it  to  stand  the  test.    But  the  artist  is  in  a  much 
worse  case.    He  plays  with  his  cards  on  the  table.  He 
has  a  certain  space  that  he  must  fill  somehow  or  other. 
No  doubt  he  is  able  to  arrange  matters  so  as  to  hide  a 
certain  amount  of  his  ignorance.  He  may  so  place  his 
figures  that  certain  portions  of  their  attire  or  accoutre- 
ments are  not  seen;  he  may  foreshorten  certain  lengths 
of  which  he  is  not  sure,  and  make  the  laws  of  perspective 
responsible  for  any  apparent  discrepancy;  above  all, 
he  may  vaguely  suggest  certain  possibilities,  and  leave 
the  observer  to  fill  m  details  at  his  own  respcnu^bility. 
This  last  method,  transferred  to  the  reahn  of  lettos,  is 
that  adopted  by  the  ordinary  author.    In  any  case  the 
worker  in  words  is  not  called  upon  to  describe  any- 
thing he  wishes  not  to  describe.   He  is  at  liberty  to 
select  for  description  whatever  pleases  him.  The 
artist,  on  the  other  hand,  must  meet  his  difficult  He 
cannot  merely  omit  them;  and  when  he  seeks  to  evade 
them,  he  has  to  do  so  in  a  way  that  is  easily  detected. 


346  BXP081TI0N  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

In  a  certain  Moue  the  artist  may  be  said  to  be  called 
UDon  to  do  the  necessary  elaboration  of  the  author  s 
mVaning.    It  may  be  enough  for  the  author  to  rraiark 
that  there  was  a  cupboard  in  the  comer    He  need  not 
concern  himself  about  what  sort  of  cupbowd  it  is;  but 
the  artist  must  make  it  some  defimte  kmd  and  shape 
of  cupboard.   He  must,  in  fact,  elaborate  the  idea. 
Some  artists  go  in  for  far  more  detaU  than  do  others,  but 
in  every  case  they  must  go  into  greater  detail  than  the 
author,  wherever  space  relations  are  mvolved.  Certain 
artists  show  great  skill  in  giving  just  Jje  n^t  amomit 
of  detail,  and  in  suggesting  the  r«t  Others  lean  rather 
to  the  methods  of  Walt  Whitman,  and  provide  a  series 
of  elements  in  their  spatial  relations  so  that  the  content 
of  the  description  may  be  made  out  without  any  ^ort 
on  the  part  of  the  spectator. 

Smce  young  people  are  necessarily  in  need  of  as  much 
detail  as  can  be  communicated  to  them  without  undue 
strain,  there  can  be  no  harm  m  using  pictures  copiously 
in  teaching.   Naturally,  it  is  desirable  that  the  idea  of 
the  picture  as  a  whole  should  be  the  true  idea,  so  tlM*  in 
the  future  the  pupU  may  not  have  to  unleam  anything. 
The  exceptionally  capable  pupil  may  occasionally  re- 
sent the  restraint  on  his  imr  gination  imposed  by  the 
artist's  work.    But  the  average  pupil,  so  far  from 
resenting  the  artist's  guidance,  feels  grateful  for  comW- 
nations  of  ideas  that  he  could  not  have  made  for  hun- 
self.   Not  only  does  the  picture  supply  combinations, 
it  rives  the  elements  as  weU.   By  the  very  fact  that  the 
artist  is  compelled  to  fill  his  space,  he  has  to  introduce 
many  details  that  do  not  appear  m  the  text  at  aU.  1 
would  be  mtolerably  tedious  to  state  in  writing  a  graai 
many  things  that  the  artist  can  represent  by  ft  f«i 


THE  PICTURB  AS  ILLXTtrTRATIOir  847 


strokes.   It  is  easy  for  the  artist  to  depict  in  a  few 
square  inches  of  book  space  what  would  take  pages  of 
descriptive  writing  to  set  down  in  a  much  less  effective 
way.  Further,  it  Ifiiiiiehea8i«rf<ff  the  pupil  to  intopret 
the  i^eture  than  tibe  text.  By  a  mere  glance  he  gathen 
in  a  harvest  of  the  eye  that  could  hardly  under  any 
circumstances  be  gathered  from  reading.   It  is  a 
healthy  sign  that  teachers  are  now  paying  great  atten- 
tion to  the  pictures  in  the  text-books.  Fonnertyi  it 
was  aflsumed  that  the  pieturee  were  tiie  diildxeii'i 
affair;  they  were  regarded  as  mere  attractions,  things 
to  please  the  pupils.   Now  teachers  use  the  pictures  as 
an  integral  part  of  the  lesson.    In  many  cases,  indeed, 
the  picture  becomes  the  core  of  the  lesson.   In  com- 
position, for  example,  a  picture  k  often  dioeen  as  the 
baaia  of  a  story  or  explanation.  But  this  is  obviously 
not  a  case  of  illustration.    The  picture  is  bemg  used 
for  its  own  sake,  and  not  in  relation  to  something  else 
upon  which  it  casts  light.   Frequently  a  picture  that 
was  meant  by  the  artist  to  illustrate  one  thing  may  be 
used  by  tiie  teacher  to  fflustrate  another,   ^eh  ple- 
turesas  "  The  Derby  Day  "  and  "  The  Railway  Station," 
that  were  meant  by  the  painter  (W.  P.  Frith,  who,  by 
the  way,  began  his  career  as  an  illustrator  of  the  Eng- 
lish classics)  to  illustrate  the  humours  of  his  time,  may 
be  used  by  the  teacher  as  i]lu8trati<»is  oi  the  dress  and 
general  background  of  Euf^  life  in  the  middle  of  last 
century. 

We  have  seen  that  all  pictures  are  more  or  less  ab- 
stract. As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  may  arrange  pictures  in 
a  regular  series  of  classes  of  ever  increasing  abstract- 
ness,  till  fai  the  final  resort  we  readi  a  stage  ^t  is  not 
really  i^etotial  at  all,  but  diagnanmatie..  It  is  in^oe- 


348  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

rible  to  draw  »  hard  and  fast  line  between  the  picture 
and  the  diagram,  for  there  is  really  a  long  scries  of  de- 
grees of  abstractness  from  the  all  but  complete  repre- 
sentation of  an  actual  object  or  scene  at  the  one  end, 
to  the  complete  reduction  to  one  claai  of  relationa  at 
the  other. 

The  neceaeary  and  suflScient  mark  of  the  picture  is 
that  it  seeks  to  reproduce  the  object  as  it  appears  to  the 
eye.  The  diagram,  on  the  other  hand,  isolates  certain 
relations,  and  by  isolating  emphasises  them,  and  thui 
frees  thm  from  complication  with  othen.  Genenlly 
Bpeakhig,  the  picture  may  be  said  to  deal  with  things 
as  they  appear,  the  diagram  with  thmgs  as  they  are. 
The  picture  works  by  appealing  to  suggestion;  the 
diagram  seeks  to  eliminate  suggestion  altogether,  or,  if 
it  makes  use  of  suggestion,  limits  it  strictly  to  one 
particular  line  of  aeti<m. 

The  abstractness  of  an  ordmary  picture  is  made  clear 
when  we  consider  the  conventional  element  in  drawing 
and  painting.   We  are  apt  to  think  that  what  we  call  a 
true  reproduction  of  nature  necessarily  conveys  to  the 
human  mmd  the  impression  of  the  original.  To  many 
it  seems  superfluous  to  write  and  publish  such  a  book  as 
Mr.  Robert  Clermont  Witt's  How  to  Look  at  Picturea. 
But  here  we  have  160  large  pages  of  print  explaining 
what  is  usually  taken  for  granted.   Pictures  are  gener- 
ally supposed  to  be  self-mterpreting,  at  any  rate  in  so 
far  as  they  reproduce  scaies  or  objects  from  the  real 
world.   Yet,  leaving  out  of  account  the  technicalities 
of  the  schools,  there  remains  the  fact  that  we  have  in 
the  most  literal  sense  to  learn  how  to  look  at  pictures. 
Psychologists  have  found  that  illiterate  and  savage 
people  do  not  al  aS  uadentand  wha^  is  meant  by  a 


TBS  FKJTDU  AS  ILLUVTRATIOlf 

given  picture.  They  have  a  grain  of  salt  for  the  story 
of  the  Greek  artist  Zeuids,  who  painted  aomti  chwriat 
so  naturally  that  th«  biwta  eame  and  pedced  at  them. 
In  the  ease  of  th«  ■•vagee  of  Borneo,  it  has  been  found 
that  they  do  not  recognise  the  portrait  of  a  man  as  a 
man  at  all,  to  say  nothing  of  being  a  likeness  of  a  par- 
ticular man.'  It  is  clear  that  we  read  into  our  pictures 
more  than  is  actually  there. 

The  picture-maker  must  vary  hb  method  acoofding 
his  purpose  is  to  give  asthetio  satisfaction  or  to  impart 
knowledge.    It  is,  of  course,  possible  for  a  picture  to  do 
both;  but  for  purposes  of  illustration  the  informative 
side  is  of  more  consequence.   So  soon,  however,  as  the 
purely  informative  aqieet  dominmtesi  tbere  is  a  danger 
of  sefkwu  daiiMge  to  the  other.   A  glacier  painted  by 
an  artist  for  his  own  satisfaction  and  the  pleasure  of 
his  patrons  is  a  very  different  thing  from  the  glacier 
painted  to  illustrate  a  geological  lecture.   When  Mes- 
sieurs Lecerf  and  Petit  let  ttonaelves  loose  on  thdr 
cartoons  for  teadiing  La  M€nk  par  BxmpU*  the  ar- 
tisfie  coneepti(A  and  execution  are  hardly  worthy  of  the 
fine  lessons  they  teach.   On  the  other  hand,  it  is  quite 
possible  for  the  artistic  sense  to  have  too  free  play  for 
the  results  to  have  any  informative  value.   Such  illus- 
trations as  thoee  erf  Gmikshank  have  no  doabt  an 
illustrfttive  value.  They  iDustmte  the  spirit  of  the 
text.   They  owe  whatever  charm  they  possess  to  their 
whimsioal  snggestiyeness.   But  on  the  informative  side 

>Dr.  C.  S.Mjera  teUs  me  that  this  does  not  apply  to  the  bi|^  of 
the  two  gradee  into  which  the  Borneans  wham  ba  hmtfxaaA  an 
clearly  olaaslfiaWa.  Bm  idso  O.  J.Eflam«:  JfsnW  £mMm»  i» 
Mtm,  p.  188. 


860  BXPOSmOlf  AND  nXUSTRATIOlV  111  TEAOHUrO 


they  are  worse  than  useless.  The  figures  are  unnatural, 
not  to  Buy  impossible.  But  the  reader  is  willing  to 
aooept  Hum  in  eonneetion  with  a  eertain  oImi  of  book, 
and  to  interfffet  the  t«xt  by  Uieir  means.  Th^  are  a 

sort  of  humorous  diagram.  We  feel  that  if  they  have  a 
place  anywhere  it  is  in  the  pagM  of  Dickens;  in  Scott 
they  are  objectionable. 

On  the  purely  informative  side,  illustrative  pieturet 
leave  as  little  as  possible  to  the  mind  ol  the  observer. 
Suggestion  must  be  called  into  play;  but  only  the 
most  obvious  suggestion  is  used.  The  real  is  not  here 
sacrificed  to  the  phenomenal.  The  illustration  of  ad- 
vertisement gives  examples  of  this  sort.  At  any  of  our 
railway  stations  may  be  seen  pietures  of  the  removal 
vans  used  by  vario^  firms.  In  most  cases  the  vaitf 
are  drawn  in  an  impo''^-'*ble  position.  They  are  repre- 
sented with  their  long  siaes  parallel  to  the  picture  plana, 
which  is  very  convenient,  s^^ce  the  printing  on  the  sidefl 
of  the  van  can  thus  appear  exactly  as  in  a  book,  without 
the  dimdvantage  of  foreshortenkig.  On  the  end  of  the 
van,  naturally,  the  printing  should  appear  to  vanish 
towards  the  centre  of  vision.  The  advertisers  probably 
are  perfectly  aware  of  this,  but  as  foreshortened  print- 
ing is  not  so  emphatic  as  the  straightforward  kind,  they 
prefer  clearness  of  printing  to  accuracy  of  drawing, 
and  simply  represent  the  end  oi  the  van  as  if  it  aim  weare 
parallel  to  the  picture  plane.  No  great  harm  is  done. 
The  ordinary  observer  is  not  at  all  concerned  with  the 
breach  of  the  rules  of  perspective.  This  I  have  tested 
by  more  than  one  hundred  separate  enquiries.  Elxperi- 
ence  allows  that,  iHien  questioned  as  to  whethor  tlMve 
is  anything  wrong  with  the  poster,  the  (»dinary  intel- 
ligmt  observer  imakft  some  ooommt  or  othflr»  eiUier 


TBI  nonmi  m  illurratiom 


about  the  kind  of  printing,  tht  eoknir  of  tlw  potter,  or 
the  remoTAl-eonditioDS  quoted,— all  of  which  is  a  full 
justification  of  the  practical  wiadom  of  the  advertiser, 
whose  business  it  is  to  remove  furniture  and  not  to 
educate  the  public.  Obvioualy,  the  teacher  must  take 
another  view. 

This  deeir«  to  oomUBe  the  pietwe  element  with 
the  «^ift|p^mf*^***  has  led  to  the  invention  <rf  the  iso- 
metrie  mode  of  projection.  The  draughtsman  wishes 
to  suggest  the  appearance  of  the  object  as  a  whole, 
and  yei  doe^  not  want  to  give  up  the  advantage  of 
drawing  to  (joale  and  making  muaiuiometita  from  hia 
drawmg.  Aeoording^y,  he  has  hit  upon  the  plan  of 
drawfaig  all  his  horizontal  lines  at  an  angle  of  thirty 
degrees  with  the  horizontal  edge  of  the  paper,  and  thus 
always  presenting  a  comu*  projection  of  the  object  in 
such  a  "ay  as  to  look  not  alt  //^ther  unlike  the  real 
object,  and  at  the  same  time  to  a-  t^e  drau^itnoaii 
to  make  UMsaremeniB  on  and  \r'-:-:   '  Irawing. 

The  compromise  here  efifectt  be  interests  of 
utility  is  paralleled  by  a  compromise  effected  in  the 
interests  of  art  in  the  Eastern  monumental  reliefs. 
The  Assyrian  Bulls,  if  looked  at  ftdl  in  front,  Aow  up  a 
pair  of  fordesi,  just  as  we  would  &kl  if  we  viewed  a  real 
bull  from  this  standpouit;  and  if  the  r  Ucf  is  lookea  at 
from  the  side,  four  legs  are  seen,  just  as  would  be  the 
case  if  we  observed  from  the  side  a  bidl  in  the  act  of 
walking.  If,  now,  the  observer  takes  a  mean  adrantage 
of  the  dd  sculptor  and  looks  at  the  relief  bull  from  a 
pomt  midway  between  the  front  and  the  side  he  seet 
the  anunal  with  five  legs.   As  an  informative  illustration 

this  bull  is  a  failure,  but  as  an  artistic  production  it  has 

the  advantage  of  preservirtg  the  illusion  of  naturahiess 


352  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

from  the  two  most  important  points  of  view,  the  frcmt 
and  the  side. 

The  pictorial  series,  in  order  of  inoreadng  abstraet- 
ness,  may  be  thus  summarised :  — 

(1)  Realistic  pictures  in  which  nothing  is  left  to  the 
imftgin;ition  but  the  work  of  combining  the  elements 
supplied,  t.e.  in  interpreting  the  lines  and  colours  ac- 
cording to  the  ordinary  conventions,  so  as  to  call  up 
the  impression  of  the  actual  object  or  scene. 

(2)  Conventional  pictures  in  which  the  elements 
must  be  combined  according  to  a  more  or  less  arbitrary 
but  intelligible  convention.  To  this  class  belong  ex- 
amples of  the  more  <yutr6  schools  of  painting  that 
require  special  training  to  understand.  Lead  glass 
work  in  ecclesiastical  decoration  would  clearly  belong 
to  this  class. 

(3)  Dif^ammatic  pictures  in  which  various  more  or 
less  mechanical  eonvoitions  are  recc^^nised.  To  this 
class  belong  such  drawings  as  those  worked  on  the  no- 
metric  system,  or  any  similar,  recognised  system. 

(4)  Diagrams  in  which  the  drawing  is  not  in  the 
ordinary  sense  quite  like  the  object  represented,  but 
oorresponds  to  it  in  certain  pcnnts.  Plans  and  devft- 
tions,  for  example,  are  not  really  like  the  objects,  and 
yet  as  they  correspond  to  them  in  space  relations  they 
may  be  said  to  resemble  them.  To  this  class  also  be- 
long all  manner  of  maps,  and  that  large  class  of  draw- 
ings tiiat  in  biol(^cal  and  other  scientific  text-books 
are  labelled  "  diagrammatie."  These  drawings  retain  a 
certain  resemblance  to  the  original  objects,  but  tbe 
draughtsman  has  taken  the  liberty  of  suppressing  what- 
ever elements  he  has  found  it  inconvenient  to  intro- 
duce. The  main  purpose  of  this  kind  of  diagram  is  to 


THE  PICTURE  AS  ILLUSTRATION  353 


divide  and  conquer.  In  dealing  with  the  yaMulMr 
system,  for  example,  it  i«  a  positive  disadvantage  to 
have  the  diagram  loaded  up  with  details  of  the  nervous 
system.  There  is  a  place  for  the  nervous  system  by 
itself,  and  also  along  with  the  vascular.  But  this  com- 
bined presentation  belongs  to  a  different  stage  of  teach- 
ing. This  elaas  of  diagram  does  suggett  the  real  ap- 
pearance of  the  objects  represented,  but  only  in  a  vague 
way.  The  vagueness  is  no  disqualification,  for  the 
general  appearance  of  the  object  is  not  at  this  stage 
important. 

(5)  The  final  stage  is  reached  when  we  come  to  thoee 
diftgw^mii  in  which  we  have  one  fact  reprcocnted  by 
another  with  which  it  has  no  apparent  connection. 
ITie  two  are  wholly  disparate,  save  in  respect  of  the 
one  element  in  which  they  are  compared.  There  is  no 
connection,  for  example,  between  a  straight  line  and 
the  amount  of  wool  exported  horn  Australia,  and  yet 
the  varying  state  of  the  eaqport  trade  in  wool  may  be 
wdl  iUnstrated  by  a  series  of  lines  of  different  lengths. 


CHAPTER  XV 


ThB  DiAGBAlC 

Thb  relation  between  tiie  i»etiii«  a&d  ^  diagriBi 
as  means  of  illustration  may  be  brought  out  by  a 
consideration  of  the  relation  between  the  easy  and  the 
simple  in  teaching,  The§e  two  terms  are  sometimes 
taken  to  be  synonymous.  But  everything  depends 
upon  the  stage  the  pupilsji^ve  reached  in  the  subject 
undw  discussion.  We  have  seoi  that  while  a  generalisa- 
tion is  sunpler  than  the  mass  of  details  from  which  it  has 
been  drawn,  it  is  easier  only  to  those  who  have  mastered 
the  details,  and  thus  earned  their  generalisation.  So 
with  graphic  illustration.  Speaking  generally,  the  dia- 
gram is  simpler  than  the  picture,  and  yet  the  picture 
is  in  most  cases  easier  than  the  diagram.  If  we  follow 
the  principle  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  it  would 
seem  that  we  ought  to  begin  with  the  diagram  and  rise 
to  the  picture.  The  teacher,  however,  is  driven  to 
reverse  the  process,  if  only  to  be  ccmdstent  with  the 
other  twtf*»wg  prindple,  firam  the  oonerete  to  the 
•betract.  We  have  here  a  practical  example  of  an  only 
too  prevalent  tendency  to  pit  one  principle  against  an- 
other in  an  unintelligent  way.  So  soon  as  we  take  a 
wide  enough  view,  we  find  that  the  two  principles  are 
quite  consistent. 

Ia  ptmi  of  fact,  the  place  of  the  picture  is  both  at  the 
beginn^  Mdtki  end  of  a  procen  of  teaching.  At  the 

354 


TBI  KAOSAM 


855 


beginning  it  gives  a  general  idea  of  Ite  i^Kite  with 
which  w«  are  dealiiig.  Thk  ean  be  giaqwd  m  a  more 
or  len  vague  way.  There  then  ought  to  foUow  a  study 
in  greater  detail,  in  which  certain  elements  have  to  be 
treated  by  themselves.  Here  the  diagram  is  obviously 
in  place,  and  may  be  used  with  whatever  degree  of 
abstractnem  is  respond.  When  the  detailed  study  has 
been  completed  for  that  particular  stage,  the  pkture 
should  ooce  more  be  introduced  to  gather  up  the  pupil's 
new  knowledge  and  fit  it  into  its  proper  place.  In  each 
teaching  unit  involving  graphic  illustration  we  should 
begin  with  the  picture,  and  end  wiUi  tlw  picture.  All 
between  is  the  dcauun  of  tlM  ifiapam. 

Yet  so  strong  is  the  power  of  the  picture  that  it 
remains  immanent  throughout  the  process,  and  is  ready 
at  any  moment  to  obtrude  itself.  A  diagram  seems  to 
have  an  inherent  tendency  to  acquire  content  and 
become  a  picture.  Since  the  value  of  the  diagram  is 
its  abstraetnees,  it  is  dear  that  a  loss  of  abstractness 
is  a  loss  of  the  virtue  of  the  diagram  as  such,  except  in  so 
far  as  the  pictorial  element  is  consistent  with  the  dia- 
grammatic. The  general  sense  of  the  solidity  of  the 
heart  that  obtrudes  itself  upon  tibe  flat  diagammatifl 
represe^tion  of  it  does  not  in  any  way  hiadar  the 
diagram  in  its  illustratiw  wc»rk.  But  if  we  are  dealing 
diagrammatically  with  a  question  of  quantity,  and  the 
picture  element  introduces  the  question  of  quality, 
the  pictorial  influence  is  prejudicial. 

This  is  wdl  sImwh  in  some  of  the  popular  methods  of 
diagrammatb  repraaentation.  It  is  now  fashionable  to 
represent  quantities  pictcmally  rather  than  diagram- 
matically in  the  strict  sense  of  the  latter  term.  For 
instance,  it  is  desired  to  convey  a  vivid  impression  of  the 


356  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBMOBOtQ 


amount  of  tobacco  smoked  in  his  lifetime  by  a  man  who 
consumes  so  many  cigars  per  week.  Tfais  is  supposed 
to  be  best  ropi-escnted  by  a  drawing  m  iriiieh  tlw  eigar 

bears  the  same  ratio  to  the  man  that  the  wei^t  of  to- 
bacco consumed  during  the  man's  lifetime  bears  to  his 
own  weight.  Accordingly,  a  manikin  is  represented 
with  an  enormous  cigar  in  his  mouth.  No  doubt  the 
area  of  tiie  eigar,  as  repiesoited  by  square  eentoBetres, 
has  the  same  ratio  to  the  area  of  the  man  in  the  same 
denomination  as  the  number  of  pounds  of  cigar  has  to 
the  number  of  pounds  of  man.  But  while  we  have  thus 
an  appearance  of  mathematical  acciu'acy,  the  only 
^ect  prodiMed  upon  the  obaervor  is  the  impression 
that  the  man  smcAaed  a  very  peat  number  of  cigars. 
On  die  whole,  the  statement  in  words  of  the  number  of 
pounds  of  tobacco  and  the  number  of  pounds  the  man 
weighed  would  convey  a  clearer  idea  of  the  situation 
than  the  dii^am.does.  It  is  commonly  said  that  the 
iUitttratkn  is  nveh  raore  interesthig  when  put  in  the 
pictorially  dtsgi  iimmatic  way.  But  the  gain  in  interest 
is  at  the  expense  of  relevancy.  The  sizes  of  the  armies 
of  Europe  may  be  represented  by  a  series  of  soldiers 
dressed  in  the  uniform  of  the  respective  countries, 
eadi  ssidier  bsMc  made  of  a  certain  me,  acccurding  to 
some  standatd,  so  m  to  represent  the  siie  <^  OkB  army 
of  hk  country.  The  resulting  imi»eesion  is  not  at  idl 
dear.    It  is  complicated  in  two  ways. 

In  the  first  place,  we  have  the  introduction  of  quality 
where  it  has  no  place.  While  we  are  considering  the 
mm  of  ^  aaiMBef  Russia  and  Italy,  we  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  peculiar  cast  of  countenance  oi  a  Russian 
or  an  Italian ;  yet  these  qualities  are  thrust  upon  our 
neliee  m  the  diairing.   No  doubt  the  appearance  of  the 


THB  DiAQRAM 


357 


men,  their  uniforms,  and  their  weapons  are  <rf  the  utmost 
coDsequenee  in  considering  the  value  of  the  various 
annies.  But  this  particular  diagram  is  used  to  illus- 
trate only  the  one  element  of  size.  The  rest  may  be 
illustrated  in  various  ways.  Some  parts  of  the  whole 
illustrandummay  be  best  represented  pictorially,  as,  for 
example,  the  weiqiona  and  aooontrasents;  but  whoever 
statistical  elonents  alone  are  involved,  the  pure  diagram 
will  be  found  to  be  most  serviceable,  and  least  apt  to 
convey  false  impressions. 

The  second  source  of  complication  in  the  pictorial 
diagrams  is  the  introduction  of  the  dement  of  area. 
If  the  mere  height  of  the  soldiers  represents  the  size  of 
the  army,  tiiwi  clearly  a  series  of  straight  lines  would, 
for  illustrative  purposes,  serve  better  than  the  pictured 
figures.    But  if  the  numerical  proportion  of  the  armies 
to  one  another  is  represented  by  the  area  covered  by 
the  figure  of  the  soldier,  thai  a  very  serious  difficul^  is 
introduced.  The  ordinary  reader  can  compare  straii^t 
lines  with  very  little  difficulty.   But  the  comparison  of 
areas  is  beyond  him.   Anyone  who  has  not  given  the 
matter  attention  will  be  surprised  at  our  general  weak- 
ness in  estunatmg  area.   We  are  all  singularly  feeble 
in  the  matter  of  comparing  the  relative  aises  of  surfaces, 
and  in  particular  in  correlating  lengths  with  areas. 
We  can  comp,are  two  lines  with  each  other  with  a  fair 
chance  of  justly  estunating  their  ratio,  but  few  among 
us  can  make  even  a  reasonable  guess  at  the  relative 
areas  of  two  given  circles  or  squares.   To  prove  how 
easily  we  may  be  m&M  in  comparing  lines  with  areas, 
ask  any  friend  w^ho  has  not  had  the  experiment  already 
imposed  upon  him  how  many  cent  pieces  or  "pennies" 
we  can  place  flat  on  the  surface  of  a  silver  dollar  without 


358  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHINQ 

any  one  of  them  overlapping,  however  slightly,  the  cir- 
eumference  of  the  larger  coin.  The  ordinary  answer 
varies  from  three  to  five.  The  fact,  however,  is  that 
even  two  of  the  little  copper  coins  are  more  than  the 
doUar  esn  leoehre  on  its  siuface  under  these  eonditions. 


Fn.  c 


Take  two  small  coins,  say  quarters,  and  place  them  <m  a 
table  at  such  a  distance  from  each  other  as  you  think 
will  leave  room  for  one  other  quarter  to  fit  in  exactly 
between  the  two.  When  you  have  tested  your  result, 
you  will  probably  find  that  you  are  considerably  wrong 
in  3rour  ealeulation,  and  that  any  friend  with  whom 
yott  experiment  goes  wrong  in  the  same  direction  as 
yourself.  You  are  really  trying  to  determine  the  length 
of  the  diameter,  but  the  area  of  the  coin  leads  you  into 


THE  MAOBAM 


350 


error.  Oiir  weakness  is  thown  •bo  in  our  inability  to 
guess  correctly  without  pfevious  pnotice  the  height  in 
inches  of  a  silk  hat  resting  on  its  crown.  Further,  take 
two  pieces  of  paper  and,  putting  the  one  above  the  other, 
cut  out  m  duplicate  the  shape  indicated  in  figure  5. 
You  wUI  then  liave  two  pieces  of  paper  of  exactly  equal 
area,  but  if  you  place  them  one  below  the  other,  as  in 
figure  6,  you  will  find  it  very  difficult  not  to  maintain 
that  the  lower  of  the  two  is  greater  than  the  upper. 

Psychologists  supply  us  with  many  examples  of  false 
impressions  conveyed  with  regard  to  areas,  lengths, 
and  directions,  and  one  would  almost  think  makers  of 
diagrams  deliberately  selected  modes  of  representation 
that  illustrate  certain  of  the  psychologists'  illusions.* 

It  is  customary  to  represent  the  areas  of  countries 
and  continents  by  a  series  of  squares  or  triangles;  and 
at  first  sight  it  may  appear  plausible  to  maintJtin  that, 
since  we  are  illustrating  areas,  the  best  illustration  is 
surely  other  areas.   It  may  even  be  asked,  if  we  cannot 
compare  intelligently  little  areas,  like  printed  triangles 
and  squares,  what  hope  is  there  that  we  can  compare 
areas  like  those  of  continents  and  countries  ?   Now  it 
has  to  be  admitted  frankly  that  most  of  us  have  no  real 
conc^tion  of  what  is  meant  by  the  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  square  miles  that  we  k-ead  about  in  our  geog- 
raphy text-books.    But  it  is  one  thing  to  know  a  mat- 
ter absolutely,  and  another  to  know  it  relatively.    It  is 
one  thing  to  know  what  is  meant  by  the  statement  that 
North  Carolina  contams  62,260  square  nules,  and  an- 
other to  realise  that  its  area  is  a  Uttle  over  twenty-five 

«  Lightner  Witmer,  in  his  AnalyHeat  Ptyekolagy,  Oiap.  Ill,  pai** 
ticularly  pp.  86-98,  gives  some  exceedingly  interesting,  and  frMB  tlM 
teacher's  standpoint  most  instructive,  illustrations. 


360  KXPOeiTIOir  AND  nXUiTRATICm  Uf  TBACHIMG 


times  that  of  Delaware.  We  may  not  be  able  to  realise 
the  vast  extent  of  country  implied  by  these  figures,  but 
we  may  be  «Ue,  by  eompurkon  with  a  mailer  etate  (in 
Uiis  case  Delaware)  with  which  we  are  assumed  to  have 
a  much  better  acquaintance,  to  make  certain  practical 
applications  of  the  statement  of  the  larger  area.  If  we 
have  a  standard  area'  that  we  really  know  by  having 
walked  or  driven  over  great  parts  of  it,  we  may  on  that 
baas  buikl  up  a  scale  which  we  can  intelligently  use. 
The  bigger  the  available  unit  the  better.  An  additional 
advantage  follows  when  the  pupil  is  able  to  compare 
by  actual  inspection  a  smaller  unit  than  his  standard, 
so  as  to  determine  how  many  times  this  smaller  unit  is 
included  in  the  standard  unit.  If ,  for  example,  in  this 
particular  ease  the  pupil  who  lives  in  Delaware  has  had 
,       ,       .  a  chance  of  running 

I  over  Rhode  Island, 
which  has  more  than 
half  the  area  of  Dela- 
ware and  Connee- 
~  ticut  (more  than 
double  the  Delaware 
-  area),  he  will  find  his 
standard  (Delaware) 

  .  much  more  useful 

for  purposes  of  eamr 

 parison. 

'      ^'  But  granting  the 

standard,  there  re- 
mains the  question  of  the  best  means  of  graphically 
re]»esaiting  the  unit  and  its  multiples.  Here  Uie  text- 
books are  again  in  favour  of  reduced  areas.  North 


THE  DIAGRAM 


m 


Wia.  7. 


Carolina  k  repnMnted  by  »  square  of,  say,  2^mch 
side,  and  in  the  comer  the  area  of  Delaware  is  repre- 
sented by  a  square  of  i-inch  side.    If  the  two  squares 
are  left  thus,  they  do 
not  give  a  very  clear 
impressioii  of  the  nt** 
tive  siies  of  the  two 
states.   It  is  found  by 
experiment  that  a  class 
gets  a  better  compari- 
son betwera  the  two 
squares  in  figure  6  if 
the  sides  of  the  larger 
square  are  marked  off 
into  five  equal  parts, 
and  still  better  if  the 
whole  squaxe  is  marind  off  into  twenty-five  squane 
of  the  Delaware  siae,  as  in  figure  7. 

From  the  ordinary  atlas  the  pupil  is  apt  to  get  a  dis- 
torted view  of  the  relative  sizes  of  the  countries  of  the 
world.  Each  country  and  continent  has  a  map  to  itsdf 
on  a  sheet  of  its  own,  so  that  North  AoMriea,  Germany, 
and  Scotland  all  appear  to  be  of  the  same  size,  the 
only  help  the  pupil  gets  being  the  little  scale  of  miles 
that  he  is  very  apt  to  overlook.  Wall  maps  have  the 
same  defect.  Some  publishers  adopt  the  reasonable 
plan  of  inserting  in  the  owner  of  nu^Mi  tiiat  are  drawn 
to  a  very  small  seate  a  little  outline  mi^  of  some  stands 
ard  country  drawn  to  the  same  scale.  Thus,  the  state 
in  which  the  pupil  lives  might  well  appear  in  the  comer 
of  maps  of  the  continents,  India,  China,  Australia, 
and  the  United  States.  To  illustrate  the  relative  risee 
dt  the  eountries  oS  Europe  an  ingenious  teadiflir  fini 


362  EZPOSITlOir  AJfD  ILLUVTRATION  Of  TSAOHINa 


OoMPARATiVB  View  or  the  Areas 
or  THB  CoNTiNEN'ra,  Kedlcko 


made  •  tndiig  ol  the  wliofo  eoattent  from  the  wall 
map»then  haeoburedaadKrf  tiia  eountriea  with  a  iai 

wash,  next  he  cut  out  all  the  co-intries  and  mounted 
Russia  on  a  sheet  of  paper  that  just  comfortably  re- 
ceived it.   After  this  he  got  a  series  uf  sheets  of  paper 

of  the  exact  size  used 
to  mount  Ruada,  aiMl 
pasted  on  each  of  them 
one  of  the  other  coun- 
tries of  Europe.  The 
amount  of  white  margin 
m  the  eaae  of  small  coun- 
tries like  Doomaric  and 
I  Belgium  certainly  em- 
phasised their  relative 
poverty  of  area. 

The  accompanying 
diagram,*  figure  8,  rep- 
resents an  attonpt  to 
na.&*  illustrate  the  areas  <tf 

the  continents.  It  is 
found  in  practice  to  be  of  very  little  service.  In  order 
to  test  its  utility,  I  experimented  in  several  towns  with 
many  classes  of  pupils  of  various  ages  from  12  upwards. 
The  area  of  one  of  the  continents  was  given,  and  the 
problem  set  was  to  estimate  from  the  diagram  what  the 
areas  of  the  other  continents  were.  The  answers  were 
very  wide  of  the  mark,  and  certain  interesting  varia- 
tions wen  observed.  The  worst  results  were  obtained 
when  the  area  supplied  was  that  of  Australia;  the  next 

*  John  Macturk:  Elementary  Physical  Geography,  p.  317. 

*  Reproduced  by  kind  permisBion  of  Menn.  William  Cdliiu^  Soai 
and  Co.,  London  and  Glasgow. 


WOTHAMIIIOA 

5 

8 

a 

^ 

e 

X 

i 

» 
s 

m 

> 
■ 

m 

I 

m 

9 

s 

TBI  raAQRAM 


worst  when  Asia  was  the  standard;  the  best  results 
followed  when  ttUitr  North  or  South  America  formed 
the  etartiiv-fx^t.  Cinmm  that  had  studied  menmra- 

tion  did  better  than  those  that  had  not.  I  was  able 
to  eliminate  the  difference  in  age,  for  I  managed  to  get 
four  classes  of  boys  of  the  same  age,  two  of  which  had 
studied  mensuration  and  two  hod  not.  A  further  pecu- 
liarity was  that  wlnm  the  diagram  was  put  in  the  fmrm  of 
asQfiesof  BX  squares  standing  outside  of  each  other,  and 
arranged  in  order  of  size,  the  results  were  better  than 
when  the  squares  were  so  placed  as  to  have  one  angle 
common.  The  explanation  is  probably  that  when  the 
squares  were  superimposed  there  was  greater  "interfer- 
ence" in  the  Moae  that  tmn  bean  when  used  in  i^iyrics. 

Conspicuoudy  better  results  were  obtained  when  two 
of  the  six  areas  were  given,  the  best  results  of  all  being 
obtained  when  Europe  and  Africa  were  the  continents 
selected  as  standards,  though  Asia  and  Australia  made 
a  combination  that  had  results  very  little  inferior. 

In  pomi  of  fact,  however,  the  following  table  that 
accompanies  the  diagram  in  Mr.  Macturk's  book  gives  » 
more  useful  presentation  thui  does  the  diagram:— 

Sm  ov  ram  Comaaum  (mcLimiira  Islaiom)* 


OlBATEST 

Okeatest 

AmEA  IN  Sq. 

COMPABATira 

Lbmoth 

Brbadtb 

Sua 

ICurope    .    .  . 

3400  m. 

2450  m. 

3,700,000 

1 

Asia  .... 

6700  m. 

5400  m. 

16,400,000 

4i 

Africa.   .  .  . 

5000  m. 

4600  m. 

11,100,000 

3 

N.  America  .  . 

5600  m. 

3120  m. 

7,600,000 

2 

8.  America  .  . 

4500  nr 

3000  m. 

6,800,000 

If 

Australia .   .  . 

1900  m. 

2400  m. 

3,000,000 

1 

Take  Europe  M  the  ataodaid  of  ooaapariacm. 


MICROCOPY  RESOLUTION  TEST  CHART 

(ANSI  and  ISO  TEST  CHART  No.  2) 


A    /APPLIED  IIV1/1GE  Inc 


364  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

In  the  table  the  areas  are  given  in  sufficiently  round 
numbers  to  admit  of  easy  comparison  with  each  other, 
a  comparison  that  is  further  aided  by  the  "compara- 
tive size"  column.  It  would  be  weU,  however,  as  a 
matter  of  presentation  that  the  continents  should  be 
arranged  in  the  table  in  regular  ascending  or  descending 
order  of  size  to  match  the  diagram.  Taken  along  with 
the  table,  the  diagram  may  be  said  to  be  helpful;  but 
if  the  teacher  has  to  choose  between  the  comparative 
size  column  and  the  diagram,  he  will  be  well  advised 
to  give  up  the  diagram.  Hie  illustrandum  being  the 
column  of  "area  in  square  miles,"  the  comparative 
size  column  will  certainly  be  a  better  illustration  than 
is  the  diagram.  When  a  class  is  confronted  with  the 
squares  in  figure  8  without  any  indication  that  th^ 
represent  continents,  the  pupils  are  found  to  be  incar- 
cable  of  estimating  the  relative  areas  of  the  squares. 
Given  the  area  of  the  Europe  square  as  100,  only 
two  out  of  a  class  of  75  postgraduate  students  esti- 
mated with  reasonable  conrectness  the  ar^  of  the  re> 
maining  five.  Eighteen  of  them  estimated  the  largest 
square  as  between  700  and  800.  The  general  impres- 
sion produced  by  the  students'  estimates  was  that  the 
diagram  by  itself  confused  rather  than  helped. 

Still  less  hopeful  is  the  accompanying  diagram,  figure 
9.  The  wido*  circle  has  an  area  one  hundred  times  as 
great  as  has  the  small  black  circle  in  the  centre.  As 
the  total  area  of  the  United  States,  including  Alaska, 
is  3,617,384  square  miles,  and  the  area  of  Indiana  is 
36,350  square  miles,  the  diagram  might  be  used  to  illus- 
trate the  relation  betwe^i  the  area  of  this  state  and  tbe 
area  of  the  whole  republic.  The  diagram  is  supposed 
to  make  the  ratio  clearer  than  does  the  more  statanent 


THE  DIAGRAM 


365 


of  the  figures.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  statement  that 
the  one  area  is  almost  exactly  a  hundred  times  the  other 
conveys  a  much  clearer  idea  than  does  the  presentation 
of  the  diagram.  Pupils  are  unable  to  estimate  the 
ratio  betwew  the  two  circles.   I  have  m^de  this  tiie 


Fio.  9. 


subject  of  experiment  by  pladng  a  large  copy  of  the 

diagram  drawn  to  scale  before  about  thirty  classes  of 
pupils  between  12  and  15  years  of  age  (representing 
altogether  1245  individual  pupils)  without  giving  any 
hint  about  what  it  represented  geographically.  Tb» 
only  question  asked  was:  How  many  tio^  is  tlui 
circle  bigger  than  the  little  one?  I  made  the  same  t«rt 
witii  varioiu  rlnnnm  of  undergraduate  students  (453  in- 


366  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


dividual  students  in  all)  of  ages  19  to  22.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  percentage  results  of  the  estimates  formed 
by  the  various  pupils: — 


Qwovr  I 

Omuv  II 

Pupils  l»-22 

56.2 

30.1 

15.7 

20.0 

28.1 

40.9 

100.0 

lOOC 

Naturally  the  older  pupils  made  fewer  wild  guesses 
than  the  juniors.  In  Group  1, 17.2  per  cent  estimated 
the  area  as  under  20  times;  in  Group  II,  only  2.3  per 
cent  made  this  low  estimate.  But  strangely  enough, 
while,  of  Group  I  only  8.0  per  cent  estimated  ov^  300 
times,  9.3  per  cent  of  Group  II  made  this  exa^erated 
estimate.  One  striking  difference  between  the  two 
groups  is  that  there  is  much  more  "round  number" 
work  among  the  first  Group.  The  second  Group  quite 
obviously  deab  with  squares  of  numbers,  while  the  first 
Group  have  exactly  50.7  per  cent  of  even  numbw  guesses 
—  i.e.  20,  30,  40,  .  .  .  200,  300,  400,  etc.,  up  to  1000. 
In  Group  I  2.5  per  cent  estimate  exactly  1000.  Only 
one  student  in  Group  II  makes  this  loose  guess.  In  the 
first  Group  one  pupil  guesses  5000,  and  one  actually 
goes  the  length  of  10,000.  The  great  majority  of  the 
guesses  are,  in  fact,  quite  wild.  About  a  dozen  pupils 
in  Group  I  give  such  inexplicable  answers  as  "They  are 
as  big  as  each  other."  But  a  good  many  must  have 
thought  what  one  pupil  had  the  courage  to  write: 


IMiliil 


THE  DUQRAM 


367 


"One  cannot  tell  how  much  bigger,  as  the  small  one  can 
go  into  it  almost  as  many  times  as  one  likes." 

In  the  case  of  Group  II  it  appears  likely  that  29  per 
cent  represents  the  real  proportion  of  those  who  esti- 
mated 100  correctly.  The  same  can  hardly  be  said 
for  Group  I.  The  tendency  to  select  round  numbers 
is  so  marked  that  we  must  make  allowance  for  the  in- 
clination to  be  specially  attracted  to  100  because  it  is 
so  pregmmently  a  round  number.  Thus,  while  16.7  per 
cent  guessed  100  exactly,  no  fewer  than  12.04  per  cent 
guessed  50  exactly,  while  5.5  per  cent  guessed  200 
exactly. 

The  important  result  of  the  experiments  from  the 
point  of  view  of  Illustration  is  that  the  diagram  gives 
no  real  help  in  estimating  the  relative  sises  of  two  geo- 
graphical areas.  Can  it  be  maintained  tha.'  the  illus- 
tration works  the  other  way?  If  the  pupils  are  unable 
to  estimate  that  the  big  circle  is  a  hundred  times  bigger 
than  the  little  one,  are  they  at  all  likely  to  be  clearer 
about  the  ratio  of  1  to  100  by  looking  at  the  diagram 
after  being  told  what  the  ratio  is?  If  not,  can  the  dia- 
gram be  said  to  serve  any  useful  purpose?  The  answer 
would  appear  to  be  that,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
actual  figures,  there  may  be  a  certain  aesthetic  satis- 
faction in  seeing  the  diagram.  It  may  therefore  help 
in  fixing  an  impression  that  is  made  by  other  means, 
but  its  effect  must  be  recognised  to  be  es^tie,  not 
didactic. 

Geometricians  discriminate  between  what  they  call 
diagrams  of  illustration  and  metrical  diagrams.  The 
first  kind 

"are  intoided  to  help  the  read^  to  follow  tlie  maUieinatieal  i«a- 
soniog.    The  oonatmctkHi  at  the  figure  is  defined  in  vmdi  m 


368  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


that  even  if  no  figon  mra  dmwn  the  fewier  eouU  dnnr  one  for 

himself." » 

The  second  kind  are 

"employed  in  an  entirely  different  way  — namely,  for  purposes 
of  measurement.  The  plans  and  designs  drawn  by  architects  and 
engineers  are  used  to  determine  the  value  of  certain  real  magni- 
tudes by  measuring  cortain  distances  on  the  diagnun."* 

The  diagrams  we  have  just  been  dealing  with  must 
be  r^;arded  as  more  or  less  illegitimate  examples  of  the 

metrical  kind.  No  doubt  Viey  are  used  to  illustrate 
certain  relations,  and  these  relations  are  of  a  purely 
quantitative  nature.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are  not 
set  out  so  that  measurements  may  be  taken  from  them. 
No  doubt  we  could  calculate  from  them  the  relations 
they  illustrate,  but  this  is  certamly  not  the  funotion 
they  were  introduced  to  perform.  Rather  are  they 
called  upon  to  illustrate  calculations  that  have  already 
been  made.  They  are,  in  fact,  a  hybrid  between  the 
two  classes. 

In  spite  of  the  literal  meaning,  —  "marked  out  by 
lines,"  —  the  term  diagram  may  be  applied  to  drawings 
in  which  colour  plays  an  essential  part.  The  areas  in  the 
drawing  may  indicate  one  set  of  f  .cts,  while  the  colours 
that  are  washed  m  over  the  areas  may  indicate  another, 
rhe  areas  may,  for  example,  indicate  quantitative  re- 
lations,  the  colours  qualitative.  In  a  geological  map 
the  extent  of  the  various  strata  is  indicated  by  the  area 
set  apart  for  each,  while  the  nature  of  the  strata  is 

»  How  far  this  is  true  of  the  ordinary  reader  may  be  tested  by 
asking  some  one  to  read  the  Meno,  82-85,  from  a  text  without  a  dia- 
gram, and  then  make  an  illustrative  diagram  to  suit.  Few  indeed  will 
be  able  to  supply  what  is  wanted. 

•  J.  Clark  MuEwell*  la  the  Eney.  Brit.,  ninth  ed.  Vol.  VU,  p.  14». 


THE  DIAGRAM 


360 


indicated  by  the  colours :  black  may  indicate  coal ;  yellow, 
chalk;  red,  volcanic  rocks;  and  so  on.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  here  we  have  another  example  of  the  immanence 
of  the  picture  in  the  diagram.  There  is  a  natural  con- 
nection between  black  and  coal,  and  between  red  and 
the  rocks  that  are  produced  by  fire.  The  same  feeling 
i^ter  the  pictorial  is  seen  in  the  maps  illustrating  the 
various  levels  of  the  different  parts  of  the  earth's 
surface.  It  is  a  natural  convention  to  represent  the 
low-lying  lands  by  different  shades  of  gjeem  according 
to  their  height,  the  higher  mountainous  levels  by 
VEirious  shades  of  brown  (points  above  the  snow-line 
being  left  white),  and  the  sea  by  varying  shades  of  blue. 
But  colours  may  be  used  in  a  completely  abstract  way, 
as  in  the  case  in  which  exports  and  imports  are  repre- 
sented by  different  colours. 

Sometimes  colours  and  areas  are  combined  for  illus- 
trative purposes.  When  this  is  done,  there  should  be 
the  greatest  care  in  maintaining  consistency  in  the  use 
of  the  colours.  In  a  diagram  lying  before  me  as  I  write, 
there  are  two  circles,  each  divided  up  into  sectors 
represrating  the  amounts  of  the  imports  and  exports 
of  Great  Britun  from  and  to  various  countries.  Here 
each  country  should  retain  the  same  colour  in  both  cir- 
cles. But  I  find  that  France  is  green  in  the  imports 
and  salmon-coloured  in  the  «q)orts;  Holland  is  sahncm- 
coloured  in  the  imports  and  blue  in  l^e  exports;  Russia 
is  yellow  in  the  exports  and  blue  in  the  imports.  It 
may  be  Ihought  that  change  in  the  colours  is  a  trifling 
matter;  but  somehow  colour  has  a  great  attraction  for 
all  of  us,  and  particularly  for  young  people.  Nothing 
can  be  called  Uifling  that  draws  attention  in  the  wrong 
place  and  sugflcests  difference  where  none  eadsts. 

2> 


870  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU81AATIQN  IN  TfiACHINO 

A  favourite  method  of  representing  statistical  facts  is 
by  means  of  columns  of  varying  height.   The  method 
is  excellent,  but  it  must  be  used  with  certain  restrictions. 
First,  the  element  of  area  must  be  eliminated.  The 
columns  must  be  of  uniform  width,  so  that  the  real 
measurement  is  made  in  height.    In  several  diagrams 
I  have  examined  I  have  found  that  when  very  large 
numbers  have  to  be  used  along  with  s    H  numbers,  the 
columns  representing  the  bigger  num     i  are  so  tall  that 
it  is  impossible  to  include  them  in  tne  page.  Accord- 
ingly they  are  broken  up  into  strips  and  placed  side  by 
side.   No  objection  need  be  taken  to  this  so  long  as 
the  strips  are  of  uniform  length.   Six  such  strips  wo-  M 
naturally  make  a  biggish  rectangle,  and  would  tL, 
fore  represent  a  very  large  number,  but  the  largeness  of 
the  number  would  be  estimated  by  the  number  of  strips, 
not  by  the  area  of  the  rectangle.    Sometimes  the  mis- 
take is  made  of  representing  a  quantity  that  is  just  too 
big  for  a  single  strip  by  two  equal  strips,  each  a  little 
bigger  than  half  a  standard  strip.   This  is  a  blunder, 
for  in  this  case  we  are  driven  to  deal  with  area  and  not 
merely  with  length.   The  quantity  should  be  repre- 
sented by  a  complete  standard  strip  and  a  little  bit  of 
an  additional  strip.   Each  column  is,  m  fact,  treated  as 
a  line,  and  the  complex  diagram  is  really  made  up  of  a 
series  of  lineal  measurements.   We  judge  by  the  heights 
of  the  various  columns,  and  thus  get  a  good  general 
idea  of  the  comparative  importance  of  the  different 
quantities.  When  it  comes  to  accurate  details,  we  must 
fall  back  upon  the  actual  figures,  which  are  usually 
available.   As  a  rule  it  is  not  wise  to  use  illustrations 
of  this  kind  as  metrical  diagrams. 
Psychologically,  it  is  not  quite  accurate  to  say  that 


THE  DUQRAM 


871 


columns  may  be  treated  merely  as  lines.  Our  estimate 
of  the  width  of  columns  is  affected  by  the  relative  heights 
of  the  columns  compared.  A  low  column  appears  wider 
in  proportion  to  a  high  column  of  the  same  real  width. 
But  this  peculiarity  need  not  interfere  with  the  use  of 
columns  as  illustrations  of  statistical  relations  in  one 
denomination.  So  long  as  we  have  a  standard  height 
and  a  uniform  width,  we  can  treat  them  merely  as  thickor 
lines  than  usual.  A  particulariy  useful  form  of  colum- 
nar diagrams  is  that  in  which  squared  paper  is  used  as  the 
groundwork,  and  squares  are  blackened  so  as  to  form 
columns  of  various  heights.  Each  column  is  in  this 
case  so  many  squares  high,  and  the  "permanent  sug- 
gestion" of  the  squareness  of  the  unit  prevents  he 
question  of  breadth  arising;  thouf^  it  must  be  i  \- 
mitted  that  in  the  case  of  a  fraction  of  a  square  being 
filled  up  at  the  top  of  a  column  there  is  danger  of  a 
trifling  distiurbance  through  the  breadth  bias. 

While  it  is  true  that  quantities  are  better  lepnaeated 
by  straiirbt  lines*  than  by  areas,  there  is  the  limitation 
that  '^'■if  ^  3  is  a  great  disparity  between  the  two 
quant: .  jpared,  the  mind  may  be  unable  to  make 
the  coraptuison.  If,  instead  of  the  squares  in  figure  7, 
we  draw  a  line  one  inch  long  to  represent  the  area  of 
Delaware,  and  another  twenty-five  inches  long  to 
represent  North  Carolina,  it  will  be  discovered  that 
pupils  find  it  impossible  to  make  an  accurate  estimate 

>  In  connection  with  the  view  that  the  straight  line  is  the  funda- 
mental form  of  quantitative  illustration,  my  friend,  Dr.  William  Gar- 
nett,  the  eminent  physidst,  refers  to  the  fact  that  in  physics  all  meas- 
urements are  ultimately  reduced  divisions  of  a  line.  The  galva- 
nometer, the  thermometer,  the  barometer  all  exemplify  this.  Even 
in  the  balance  the  line  remains  tbe  standard,  thmii^  in  this  case  it 
is  reduced  to  seio. 


872  EZPOnnON  AND  ILLUVnUTION  IN  TBAOHINO 


of  the  relation  between  the  two  areas.  In  such  cases 
the  line  must  be  broken  up  in  some  way,  so  vhat  the 
ratio  may  be  made  manifeet.  One  writer  who  wishes 
to  represent  by  means  of  straight  lines  the  ratio  between 
the  trade  of  the  British  Isles  and  the  trade  of  the  vari» 
ous  British  colonies,  represents  the  British  trade  by  a 
Une  so  long  in  proportion  to  the  others  that  he  has  to 
fold  it  into  what  may  be  described  as  a  spiral  rectangle 
that  has  rather  more  than  two  and  a  half  whorla. 
Then  this  rectangle  is  filled  with  other  lines  variously 
folded.  The  perverted  ingenuity  of  the  plan  may  be 
S^thered  from  its  application  in  figure  10  to  the  areas 
of  various  states  of  the  Union.  The  plain  statement 
of  thefaetsis:— 

Rhode  bland 
Maryland  . 
Kentucky  . 
New  York  . 

Illinois  .  . 
Texas .    .  . 

This  is  contorted  into 


MARVtANO 

1,250  square  miles. 

12,210  square  miles. 
40,400  square  miles. 
49,220  square  miles. 
56,650  square  miles. 
265,780  square  miles. 


Fio.  la 


THE  DIAGRAM 


373 


Two  principles  should  be  kept  in  view  when  we  are 
dividing  up  a  line  so  as  to  use  it  effectively  in  quantita- 
tive illustration.  The  first  is  that  we  should  always 
work  in  multiples  of  the  smaUiist  line  to  be  ineluded. 
Urns,  in  the  areapof-North-Caroiina  iUustratkm  (figure 
7,  page  361),  we  should  divide  the  twenty-five  line  into 
five  lines,  each  five  times  the  length  of  the  line  represent- 
ing the  area  of  Delaware.  Had  we  been  dealing  with 
the  state  of  New  York,  which  is  almost  exactly  twenty- 
four  tinMs  the  area  of  Delaware,  we  would  divide  t^ 
longer  line  into  four  narts,  each  six  times  the  Delaware 
length.  Naturally,  if  there  is  not  a  convenient  multiple 
to  include  all  that  we  want  without  leaving  anj'thing 
over,  than  we  must  adopt  the  nearest  multiple  and 
represmt  the  remainder  by  a  proportionatdy  smafler 
length.  If  the  bigger  state  were  represented  1^  the 
number  twenty- six  (Arkansas,  with  53,850  square  miles, 
fits  in  here  almost  exactly),  we  might  either  take  nine 
as  the  multiple  and  give  two  full  lines  and  eight-ninths 
of  another,  or  take  five,  as  before,  and  add  a  fifth  of  an- 
other. 

The  second  principle  is  that  we  should  arrange  our 
rows  of  multiple  lines  horizontally  rather  than  vertically, 
as  it  is  found  that  the  eye  works  more  easily  from  side 
to  side  than  up  and  down. 

It  is  probaUe  that  it  is  this  difficulty  in  dealing  in 
terms  of  straight  lin^  with  widely  different  quantitras 
that  has  led  to  the  introduction  of  illustrations  by  areas. 
These  give  a  wider  range,  without  the  need  of  trouble- 
some foldings  or  duplications.  Rectangular  areas  seem 
to  lend  tJiemsdves  mote  readily  to  rabdivimon  than  do 
circular  areas.  But  this  does  not  prevent  the  enters 
prising  iUustrator  from  using  the  drde.  Indeed,  thk 


874  BXPOtmON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


form  of  illustration  is  at  present  rather  in  favour.  A 
circle  is  taken  to  represent  some  total,  an«i  is  divided 
up  into  various  sectors,  each  representing  a  specific 
pwt  of  this  total.  But  here,  again,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
estimate  the  areas  of  the  sectors.  The  usual  way  b  to 
make  an  estimate  of  the  relative  areas  of  the  various 
sectors  by  comparing  the  parts  of  the  circumference  cut 
off  by  the  including  radii.  Considerable  skill  in  estimat- 
ing angular  measurement  may  be  acquired  by  a  study 
of  the  face  of  the  clock  and  the  different  positions  of 
the  hands.  Limiting  himself  to  the  positions  of  the 
twelve  hours,  the  student  assumes  the  unit  of  the  hour 
as  equivalent  to  30",  and  by  estimating  the  position 
of  the  radii  in  relation  to  the  fixed  points  of  the  hours, 
he  ean  make  a  fair  guess  at  the  numbor  of  dogroce 
included,  and  therefore  of  the  proportion  of  the  area 
<rf  the  circle  included  in  a  given  sector. 
The  two  following  ^^'^g^'^ff  were  published  in  an 


c«;  (b) 

Fro.  11. 


official  document  to  illustrate  certain  quantitative 
relations.  One  would  have  thought  that  the  peroent- 


TBI  NAORAII 


ages  required  no  help,  but  somehow  the  drawings  wera 
asimmed  to  make  the  matter  clearer,  till  one  of  the 
cials,  who  had  trained  his  eye  on  the  doek-faee 
standard,  dianeed  to  see  th^,  and  declared  after  a 

moment's  inspection  that  both  were  incorrect  (a)  to 
the  extent  of  two-thirds  of  an  hour  (i.e.  10°)  and  (&) 
to  the  extent  of  one-third  of  an  hour  (i.e.  5°).  On 
measurement,  the  reac  t  will  find  that  the  estimate  is 
ahnost  exactly  rii^t,  so  sldlful  is  it  possible  to  become 
at  estimating  angular  measurement  by  reference  to  a 
fixed  standard.  It  is  true  that  this  is  not  quite  an 
estimate  of  areas,  but  rather  of  positions  on  a  circle. 
The  estimate  of  the  included  area  is  really  an  inference 
from  the  angular  measurement.  This  last  fact  has 
probably  something  to  do  with  the  populaiity  of  the 
circular  form  of  quantitative  illustration. 

Sometimes  the  circular  diagram  is  used  in  a  way 
that  depends  still  less  on  the  area- sense.  The  state  of 
a  particular  business  of  some  complexity,  or  of  some 
government  depwtment,  in  a  given  year  is  represent'  i 
by  an  inner  circle.  Each  succeeding  year  is  reprcsente 
by  an  outer  concentric  circle,  and  the  increase  or  ('imi- 
nution  in  certain  elements  (sales,  cases,  pros'/v-'uions, 
deaths,  or  what  not)  is  indicated  by  protrui^ion  of 
larger  or  smaller  extoistons  oi  unifcmn  ui^pe,  but  vary- 
ing size,  from  the  original  circle.  If  the  concentric 
circles  increase  by  a  uniform  lengthening  of  radius  each 
year,  the  protrusions  from  the  original  circle  may  be 
compared  with  each  other  on  the  same  standard,  so  long 
as  ^eir  shi^  does  not  depend  on  the  diameter  of  tlM 
cirdes.  (H>long  protrusions  of  uniform  width  may 
press  into  any  number  of  concentric  circles  without 
being  affected  by  the  increasing  diameters.   We  are,  in 


376  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINO 


fact,  ^labled  to  treat  the  oblong  prolongations  as  mere 
lines.   Ingenious  people,  of  course,  can  introduce  all 

manner  of  more  or  less  useful  complications.' 

It  may  very  reasonably  be  questioned  whether  the 
general  weakness  that  we  have  observed  in  estimating 
areas  is  an  essential  part  of  human  nature.  It  may 
well  be  that  this  is  merely  a  department  of  experience 
that  has  not  received  its  proper  share  of  attention.  Ed- 
ucation has  certainly  done  little  towards  training  this 
particular  mode  of  dealing  with  the  materials  presented 
by  the  outside  world.  Experiments  have  been  made,  it 
is  true,  but  seldom  on  a  large  scale,  or  continued  for  a 
long  time.  Several  years  ago  an  enthusiast  in  educa- 
tion in  the  east  of  Scotland  produced  a  scheme  for  the 
training  of  all  our  sense  perceptions.  On  the  analogy 
of  Athletics,  he  called  his  system  "Mentics."  It  was 
not  widely  taken  up,  but  in  one  or  two  cases  it  was 
applied  with  great  thoroughness  and  success.  An  es- 
sential part  of  the  scheme  was  a  training  in  the  estimat- 
ing of  areas,  and  jn  one  case,  at  least,  in  which  it  was 
applied  the  pupils  developed  quite  a  striking  skill  in 
estimating  areas  that  happened  to  fall  into  the  geo- 
metrical forms  that  had  been  used  in  their  training. 
That  is  to  say,  the  pupils  could  readily  arrange  in  order 
of  area  a  number  of  cardboard  hexagons,  triangles, 
squares,  and  other  regular  figures.  They  were  less 
happy  in  arranging  in  order  figures  that  had  not  occurred 
in  thdr  regular  exercises,  but  they  did  much  better 
work  even  with  irregular  figures  than  any  class  of 
equally  intelligent  but  untrained  pupils.   On  the 

•  For  a  very  interesting  example  of  this  form  of  circular  illustration, 
see  the  Report  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Instructioo  of  New  South 
Wales,  1908.   (Physical  CcHodition  of  ChUdicn.) 


THE  DIAGRAM 


377 


other  hand,  when  the  "mentically"  tramed  pupils  were 
taken  into  the  country,  they  showed  no  unusual  skill 
in  estimating  in  acres  the  fields  through  which  they 
passed;  though  looking  at  clearly  marked  fields  from 
a  height  at  some  distance,  they  were  able  to  compare 
with  fair  accuracy  the  areas  of  the  different  fields. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  under  the  rapidly 
approaching  development  of  handwork  in  all  its 
branches  in  schools  the  area-sense  will  be  much  more 
highly  cultivated  than  in  the  past,  and  even  the  bulk- 
sense  will  receive  a  certain  amount  of  training.  In  the 
meantime,  it  is  very  di£Scult  to  ^t  an  ordinary  pupil  to 
understand  how  a  fifty-cent  microscope  can  be  said, 
without  actual  lying,  to  magnify  "nearly  30,000  times," 
while  a  fifty-dollar  instrument  claims  no  more  for 
itself  than  four  or  five  hundred  times,  or  seven  hundred 
at  the  most.  We  may  point  out  to  the  pupil  that  the 
first  is  estimated  in  cubical  content  and  the  second 
in  diameters.  But  after  we  have  explained  that  the 
cheaper  microscope  probably  magnifies  30  diameters, 
or  900  (t.e.  30  x  30)  area  units,  or  27,000  (i.e.  30  x  30 
X  30)  cubic  units,  the  pupil  still  finds  a  difficulty  in 
taking  in  our  meaning.  To  be  fur  to  the  good  micro- 
scope,  we  must  claim  that  it  magnifies 343,000,000  times 
(700  X  700  X  700).  But  this  seems  to  prove  too  much. 
The  pupil  clearly  thinks  he  is  being  imposed  on.  This 
enormous  figure,  he  thinks,  must  be  a  mere  "way  of 
talking"  —  and  he  is  right.  As  a  matt^  of  fact,  ex- 
cept on  the  smallest  scale,  we  cannot  perceive  cubical 
content ;  we  must  deal  with  it  as  a  matter  of  inference. 
We  are  all  familiar  with  the  very  common  confusion 
between  eight  feet  square  and  eight  square  feet.  But 
confusion  is  much  more  general  when  we  deal  mih 


378  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLDSTBATION  IN  TBACHINO 

cubic  content.  Most  people  who  are  preparing  for 
their  first  ocean  voyage  make  a  very  rarious  error  in 
their  interpretation  of  the  "twenty  cubic  feet,"  or  the 
"sixty  cubic  feet"  allowed  for  baggage.  Their  minds 
are  dazzled  by  a  spaciousness  in  which  an  additional 
trunk  or  two  are  matters  of  no  moment.  Some  people 
never  acquire  the  volumetric  sense,  but  havethrou^- 
out  life  to  take  the  shipping  people's  word  for  the 
surcharge.  Others  are  amenable  to  the  teachings  of 
experience,  and  come  to  form  a  fair  idea  of  what  the 
phrase  "sixty  cubic  feet"  means  when  expressed  in 
orates  and  trunks.  But  while  this  form  of  infor^ce 
may  be  trained,  the  process  is  a  part  of  substantive 
teaching,  and  ought  to  precede  the  use  of  the  area-  or 
volumetric-sense  as  an  aid  in  illustrating  something 
else.  Diagrammatic  illustration  offers  a  capital  field 
for  the  sense  when  cultivated,  but  is  not  the  field  in 
which  the  cultivation  should  tdce  place. 

Pending  the  further  development  of  the  areaHS^ise, 
it  will  be  wise  to  limit  the  range  of  the  diagrammatic. 
Since  the  great  value  of  the  diagram  is  its  abstractness, 
it  does  not  seem  desirable  to  carry  it  into  a  region 
where  extraneous  elements  have  to  be  taken  into 
accoimt.  If  we  can  represent  all  we  want  by  means  of 
straight  lines,  why  should  we  seek  for  a  more  complicated 
medium?  When  we  know  that  Indiana  is  only  one- 
hundredth  part  of  the  area  of  the  whole  of  the  states, 
irhy  should  we  seek  for  illustrations  that  only[  hamper 
our  freedom  in  dealing  with  this  fact?  After  all,  it  is  a 
quantitative  fact,  and  should  not  be  confounded  with  a 
qualitative  one.  It  is  true  that  after  we  have  mastered 
this  mere  numerical  ratio,  we  have  a  very  great  deal  to 
leam  before  we  can  apply  this  knowledge  intelligently. 


THE  DUQBAM 


379 


Mere  area  k  not  everything.   But  the  necetiary 

amplification  of  our  knowledge  is  to  be  brought  about 
by  other  forms  of  illustration.  We  shall  understand 
the  meaning  of  Indiana  and  the  United  States  a  little, 
but  not  much,  better  because  we  have  learnt  that  a 
certain  white  circle  is  one  hundred  times  as  big  as  a 
certain  black  one.  What  is  wanted  after  that  is  an 
application  of  the  principle  of  elaboration.  So  far  as 
mere  quantity  is  concerned,  we  have  enous^  when  we 
have  the  bald  statement  of  the  ratio. 

One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  the  application  of  the 
Jacototian  principle,  "Learn  one  thing  thoroughly  and 
refer  everything  else  to  it,"  is  to  be  found  in  a  diagram 
(figure  12)  that  occurred  in  the  geography  book  *  on 
which  I  exhausted  my  boyish  enthusiasm.  Unfortu- 
nately, my  teacher  did  not  attend  to  the  Note  at  the 
foot.  The  diagram  was  always  taken  for  granted,  so 
that  a  large  number  of  my  classmates  never  quite 
knew  what  was  meant  by  the  remarks  that  headed  the 
various  countries  dealt  with  in  the  text.  For  example, 
under  Peru,  one  read  "Latitude  in  the  middle  the  same 
as  the  south  of  Jjow&e  Guinea";  and  un<kr  Ababia, 
"Same  latitude  as  from  the  middle  of  Moroeco  to  the 
middle  of  Senegambia."  In  schools,  however,  where 
the  book  is  properly  used  (for  it  has  still  a  wide  sale), 
there  is  continual  reference  to  the  diagram,  with  the 
result  that  the  pupils  learn  to  know  exceedingly  well 
the  relative  positions  oS  the  different  countries  on  the 
face  of  the  globe.  Naturally,  this  is  not  the  final  stage 
in  teaching  relative  position  on  the  earth's  surface. 
It  represents  the  pictorial  stage,  or  perhaps,  better,  the 
pictorial  aspect.   There  is  not  only  room,  but  necessity, 

*  Modtm  Geography  for  tht  Urn  ^8^a«l»,  by  Robwt  Andenoii. 


380  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


.1..  'JSif;  "  reqiicsted  to  Mc  that  their  pupiU  thorouehlv  master 

uus  Dfief  IcHOB.        The  position  of  thcM  eleven  countrlct.  vhldi  occuDy  Oim 

Fio.  ia.> 


*Reivodiioed  by  kind  penni88i<m  ci  Messrs.  Tlionias  Ndson  and 
Sou^  LoodoD  and  New  York. 


THE  DIAGRAM 


381 


for  the  freer  indication  of  position  on  the  surface  of  the 
globe  as  indicated  by  latitude  and  longitude.  But  the 
diagram  follows  the  laws  of  good  teaching  in  b(  ginning 
with  the  matter  and  ending  with  the  form.  A  sinilar 
diagram  of  the  Eastern  states  might  be  used  with  vi  ry 
great  advantage  in  teaching  the  relative  positions  of  the 
various  parts  of  the  Union.  When  we  are  given  the 
latitude  and  longitude  of  Georgia  and  Oregon,  we  ca.'>;by 
refming  to  a  common  standard  reason  out  their  rela- 
tive positions.  But  in  facts  that  are  so  close  to  our 
everyday  life  it  is  well  to  get,  wherever  possible,  at 
immediate  connections.  If  we  fix  the  position  of  a  given 
state,  by  reference  to  a  certain  state  on  the  Eastern 
coast,  we  are  working  up  our  complex  of  the  states  as  a 
whole. 

Speaking  generally,  a  diagrammatic  illustration  should 
be  reduced  to  its  lowest  possible  terms.  Caran  d'Ache, 
Phil  May,  and  other  artists  who  dazzle  us  by  the  fewness 
of  their  lines,  seek  quite  a  different  effect  from  that 
proper  to  the  diagram.*  Their  aim  is  to  reach  the  maxi- 
mum of  suggestiveness  with  the  minimum  of  representa- 
tion. They  invite  the  spectator  to  supply  as  full  details 
as  he  can,  and  their  succes3  is  measured  by  the  con- 
trast between  the  exiguous  presentation  and  the  ex- 

'  We  are  told  that  such  artists  make  their  first  drawings  in  the 
ordinaiy  way,  filling  in  all  the  details  so  as  to  get  a  broad  general  effeet. 

Then  they  proceed  to  discover  which  lines  are  essential,  and  by  a  grad- 
ual process  of  elimination  they  reach  the  effective  skeleton  that  is 
finally  reproduced.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  writing.  Mr.  H.  G. 
Wells,  for  example,  tells  us  that  he  first  writes  down  things  as  they 
come  into  his  mind,  so  as  to  "get  some  idea  of  the  shape  of"  his 
subject.  This  first  writing  he  calls  "slush,"  and  it  is  ruthlessly  cut 
down  as  the  book  approaches  completion.  The  " slush"  may  amount 
to  over  100,000  words,  tJw  eomj^ted  book  to  68,000.  (Interview 
in  To^,  QepL  11, 1897). 


382  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBACHINO 


uberant  mental  picture.  The  diagram,  on  the  other 
hand,  seeks  to  confine  the  attention  to  one  particular 
direction.  It  seeks  to  illustrate  one  relation.  Caran 
d'Ache  invites  to  an  exercise  in  elaboration,  the  dia- 
gram to  an  exercise  in  elimination.  A  curious  illustrar- 
tion  of  this  invitation  to  elaboration  was  supplied  soiae 


years  ago  when  there  was  a  passing  fashion  in  what  was 
called  "match-drawing."  This  consisted  in  represent- 
ing human  beings  by  means  of  strai^t  lines  only,  as  a 
child  might  do  by  placing  matches  on  a  table,  so  as  to 
represent  the  trunk,  legs,  and  arms.  The  interesting 
point  for  us  is  the  skill  with  which  the  draughtsmea 
could  suggest  characteristic  attitudes  with  this  very 
limited  means  of  expression.  Fencers,  boxers,  walkers, 
runners,  were  all  reproduced  in  the  penny  illustrated 
magazines  in  such  a  way  that  the  spectator  had  to  fill 
in  the  details  whether  he  would  or  no.  Sometimes 
match-drawing  is  used  for  real  illustration.  Thus,  in 
a  journal  called  Cycling,  on  July  22,  1894,  there  ap- 
peared the  preceding  drawing,  figure  13,  to  illustrate  the 
difference  of  the  attitude  in  riding  the  bicycle  in  the 
year  1890  and  in  the  year  1894.   It  appears  that  be- 


THE  DIAQBAM 


383 


tween  these  two  dates  a  lamentable  degeneration  had 
taken  place,  owing  to  the  soorchmg  habit.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  accompanying  sketches  represent  an 
exaggeration:  what  we  are  certam  of  is  that  they  viv- 
idly represent  the  views  of  the  magazin*^  writer.  The 
reader's  attention  is  not  distracted  by  the  personal 
ppearance  of  the  riders,  or  the  qualities  of  the  machines. 
Only  the  essentials  appear. 

Th^  is  a  certain  amount  of  complication  involved 
here,  since  suggestion  will  naturally  invite  to  poten- 
tial elaboration.  One  may  read  as  much  anatomy  and 
physiology  and  fashion  into  the  figures  as  one's  know- 
ledge admits.  But  there  is  not  a  Une  in  the  illustration 
that  can  be  fairly  called  non-essential.  We  have  here 
practically  reached  the  limits  of  suggestion  by  resem- 
blance in  a  diagram. 

There  remains  that  kind  of  diagram  that  representB 
certain  truths  without  indicating  any  sort  of  resem- 
blance between  the  lines  and  forms  used  and  tne  con- 
tent of  the  complex  that  forms  the  illustrandum.  All 
the  newer  graphic  methods  used  in  the  teaching  of 
mathematics  belong  to  this  class,  and  all  the  various 
schemes  of  plotting  out  results  in  charts.  The  ao- 
companymg  diagram,  figure  14,  for  example,  has  no  re- 
semblance to  either  work  or  fatigue,  yet  it  represents 
in  a  very  efl&cient  way  the  relation  between  fatigue 
effect  and  practice  effect  in  determining  the  amount  of 
intellectual  work  done  in  a  givra  time.  The  abscissa, 
OM,  represents  the  length  of  time  the  test  lasted,  in 
this  case  two  hours.  The  ordinate,  OL,  represents 
the  amount  of  work  done.  The  work  begins  at  A,  and 
for  a  little  time,  through  distraction  and  the  effort  to 
concentrate,  there  is  a  slight  diminution  of  effici.  acy  in 


384  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 


work.  At  B  the  practice  effect  begme  to  tdl,  and  the 

line  gradually  rises  to  C.  At  this  pomt  the  practice 
effect  is  counterbalanced  by  the  fatigue  effect  that  goes 


B 


U        »«'*««»TII*TM«TMTUmOimTHI»0*Mr»OHOUI»  M 

Fio.  14.' 

on  increasing,  while  the  practice  effect  cannot  mcrease 
further.  The  result  is  that  there  is  a  gradual  falling  off 
in  the  effectiveness  of  the  work  till  we  reach  Z>.  Here 
the  prospect  of  a  speedy  release  from  effort,  along  with 
a  quickening  of  the  conscience,  in  view  of  the  approach- 
ing end  of  further  opportunity,  gives  a  little  fillip  to  the 
student,  and  his  effectiveness  rises  somewhat  till  the 
two  hours  end  at  E.* 

The  value  of  such  diagrams  is  that  we  can  envisage  at 
one  glance  a  large  number  of  facts  that  would  baffle 
any  mind  to  deal  with  when  presented  seriatim. 
What  Professor  Karl  Pearson  calls  an  "observation 
frequency  polygon,"  •  and  Mr.  Graham  Wallas  (from  a 

•  Reproduced  by  kind  pomlsdon  of  Messrs.  Schldchv  IVtees 
Paris.  ' 

»  A.  Binet  and  V.  Henri :  La  Fatigue  Intellectuette,  p.  239. 
»  For  illustrations,  see  the  periodical  Biometrika,  paaaim.  or  Kari 
Pearson's  Ckancu  «^  Death. 


THE  DIAGRAM 


386 


vague  monory  of  its  shape)  calls  a  "eoeked  hat,"  *  is 
one  of  the  best  examples  of  this  graphic  aid  to  think- 
ing. Mr.  Wallas  quotes  from  Professor  Marshall '  in 
support  of  the  statement  that  qualitative  reasoning  in 
economics  is  passing  away  and  quantitative  reasoning  is 
beginning  to  take  its  place.'  Among  my  postgraduate 
(science)  students,  many  of  whom  have  studied  under 
Professor  Karl  Pearson,  and  most  of  whom  have  been 
infiuenceu  by  him,  I  note  an  increasing  tendency  to 
think  in  diagrams.  I  come  across  this  line-thinking 
in  all  manner  of  unexpected  places.  An  essay  on  the 
Shakespeare-Ba(K>n  controversy  was  fuU  of  "cocked 
hats,"  and  in  an  essay  handed  in  the  other  day  on  the 
interactions  between  pupil  and  teacher,  I  found  the 
whole  positions  set  out  in  a  sort  of  diagram  of  forces. 

The  now  common  school  plan  of  recording  such 
matters  as  lengths  of  shadows,  tempmtures,  baro- 
metric pressures,  school  attendances,  have  rendered 
the  chart  form  of  illustration  familiar  even  to  young 
children.  It  is  true  that  these  records  are  treated 
as  processes  of  instruction  rather  than  of  illustration, 
and  in  the  preparation  of  the  curves  thm  is  training 
of  a  very  valuable  kind.  Children  are,  in  fact,  being 
taught  to  think  quantitativ  ely.  For  our  present  pur- 
pose the  important  point  is  that  pupils  are  now  pre- 
pared by  their  substantive  school  work  to  understand 
all  manner  of  chart  illustrations. 

We  have  se^  already  the  value  of  tiie  straight  liiM 


>  Human  Nature  in  PolUict,  1908,  p.  133. 

'  Journal  of  EeowmicB,  March,  1907,  pp.  7  and  8. 

'  Human  Nature  in  Politics,  p.  143.    Here  Mr.  Wallas  gives  a  very 
amusing  and  enlightening  illustration  of  quantitative  thiuking  on  the 
subject  of  the  best  siae  for  a  debating  ball  of  given  shape. 
30 


a86  £Xi;08IT10N  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHOTO 


M  the  best  w«y  of  indiesting  a  eomparison  in  one  single 
element,  as  area,  or  length,  or  cost,  or  weight.  But 
there  is  another  way  in  which  the  straight  line  has  a 
special  illustrative  value.  In  dealing  with  mental 
activity  we  find  that  sense  of  direction  is  character- 
istic of  mental  functioning.  "When  this  'direction'  is 
determined  for  me,"  says  Dr.  James  Ward,  "I  am  said 
to  be  passive;  when  it  is  determined  by  me,  I  am  said 
to  be  active.'"  There  appears  to  be  something  more 
than  mere  metaphor  in  this  psychological  use  of  the 
word  direcHon.  Here  is  what  Professor  S.  Alexander 
has  to  say  on  the  subject: — 

"  Now  that  I  know  what  my  hnin  b,  I  feel  my  thought  occurring 
there,  or,  if  not  there,  in  some  other  part  of  my  body.  It  is  only 
as  thus  understood  in  connection  with  the  bodily  organism  that  I 
can  say  my  mental  activity  is  a  movement  with  direction.  But  in 
this  sense  it  is  a  movement  that  does  occur  in  time  and  space. 
In  other  words,  my  mental  activity  is  dways  qualified  by  what,  tm 
the  analogy  of  local  signs,  I  must  call  signs  of  direction."  * 

Without  laying  t6o  much  stress  on  the  psychological 
basis  thus  suggested,  it  mt.  fairly  be  said  that  the 
straight  Ime  in  coiain  diagrams  performs  thefimctions 
of  those  signs  of  direction.  In  a  genealogical  table  the 
lines  really  do  direct  the  mind,  which  in  following  this 
direction  shows  itself  to  be  in  this  case  passive.  It  is  a 
matter  of  common  experience  that  the  mind  is  dominated 
by  arrows  and  other  indications  of  direction  as  they 
appear  in  graplic  form.  That  such  indications  are  a 
saving  of  thought  efTort  is  proved  by  their  use  in  the 
graphic  humour  of  the  Sunday  papers,  in  which  it  is 
now  crstomaiy  to  indicate  the  direction  of  a  projectile 

*  Proeeedingt  of  the  ArUtotelian  Society,  1908,  p.  226. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  220. 


TBI  DiAOmAlf 


887 


by  dotted  Bnea,  so  that  the  indolent  speeUtor  »*y  ^ 
saved  even  the  trifling  trouble  of  dtooovering  from  which 
direction  the  pr  >jectae  came  on  its  fun-making  errand. 
The  plain  man's  desire  "to  see  a  thing  in  black  and 
white"  is  better  met  by  a  linear  diagram  than  m  any 
other  way.    Even  when  the  letterpress  is  perfectly 

THE  TIACHER'S  USE  OF  LANQUAOE. 
THE  BRIDM 


■XAMfU. 
DOO  lUOOUTI 

•\  muR-LCoaioNiN 

H.  NAimNIU 
m.  TAtUOMM 


\  MTWtvn 
N.  •T.MIINAIIO 

Nl.  rw-vinmm 

». 


Fm.  is. 


simple,  the  reader  frequently  hkes  to  ^^»^**«J*^" 
matic  representation.  In  1903  I  pubhshed  a  httle 
Pnmer  on  Teaching  meant  specially  for  Sunday-school 
people  Naturally  I  wisLod  to  make  the  text  as  simple 
aTpossible,  and  thought  that  I  had  made  it  so  plam 
that  no  one  could  need  any  help  to  understand  its 
meaning.  Some  time  aftar  its  puWicatlon  I  received 
from  a  clever  engines  *  in  New  York  a  set  of  elevai 
diagrams  that  give  a  graphic  representation  of  the 
main  pomts  in  the  various  chapters.  The  engineer  was 
the  superintendent  of  a  Sunday-school,  and  told  me 

>  Mr.  John  Calder. 


V.  f 


388  EXPOBinON  AMD  HXUVTRATKUT  W  nAOHIH Q 

that  he  found  hit  teMfaen  understood  the  book  in  a 
much  more  praotioal  way  after  he  had  given  them  his 
diagrams.  Figure  15  reproduces  one  of  theee  diacranu. 

On  looking  at  it,  one  would  think  that  the  matter 
could  have  been  equally  well  exprcBsed  in  plain  verbal 

#      •     «  mm  m 

on  putting  the  matter  to  several 
fau-ly  weU-educated  Sunday^hool  teachers,  I  found 
that  they,  on  the  whole,  preferred  to  have  the  diagram 
but  were  good  enough  to  admit  that  it  must  oome  after 

the  text. 

We  need  be  the  less  surprised,  then,  to  find  diagrams 
m  such  abstract  books  as  Mr.  W.  MacdougaU's  Social 
Psychology.   In  mtroducing  an  admirably  elear  expod- 
tion  of  the  neural  bases  of  the  sentiments  of  hate  and 
love  he  says:  "It  is,  I  think,  helpful,  at  least  to  those 
who  make  use  of  visual  imagery,  to  attempt  to  picture 
a  sentiment  as  a  nervous  disposition  and  to  schematise 
It  crudely  by  the  aid  of  a  diagram." »  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  diagram  consists  of  a  row  of  seven  smaU  dioles 
eaoh  representing  one  of  the  primary  emotional  dis^ 
p     ions    The  rest  consists  merely  of  certain  lines  and 
arr.  va  mdicating  direction.   These  lines  have  a  com- 
peUmg  power,  and  cause  the  mmd  to  follow  them  al- 
most m  spite  of  itself.   They  are  more  useful  in  help- 
ing the  student  to  understand  than  in  helping  him  to 
recall  details. 

It  has  to  be  noted  that  the  mere  presence  of  the  lines 
nf^l  ^l^.^^^  ^^^^^'^  This  is  the  justification 
of  the  habit  some  capable  teachers  have  of  making 

what  seem  quite  unnecessary  lines  on  the  blackboard. 
They  will  put  down  this  sort  oi  thing  on  the  blackboard 
and  accompany  it  by  something  like  the  following: 

'  Social  Psycholoffy,  p.  124. 


THB  DIAORAM 


880 


"Let  A  reproacnt  Walpole,  B  Qimn  Caroliiie,  Mid  C 

George  the  Third.  The  natural  way  of  communioat- 
ing  with  the  king  would  have  been  for  the  minister  to 
speak  directly  to  him ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  impor- 
tant communications  usually  took  the  route  indicated 
by  the  mtowi."  All  th»t  thli  triangular  method  im- 


plies  has,  of  ooune,  to  be  broui^t  (mt  by  the  teacher, 
but  he  feels  that  he  has  had  a  greater  gr^  on  tiie  pufril'e 

attention  because  of  the  apparently  unnecessary  figure. 
When  I  suggested  to  the  teacher  that  it  might  have  been 
better  to  use  significant  letters,  TT,  C,  and  (?,  he  main- 
tained— influmced,  no  doubt,  by  his  memories  of  math- 
ematics— that  the 
more  conventional  the 
symbols  the  better. 
To  put  the  actual 
names  Walpole,  Caro- 
line, and  George  would, 
he  maintained,  have 
spoiled  everything. 
TIere  he  differed  from 
the  originator*  of  this 
iUustratimi — strangely 
enough  the  teacher  to  whom  I  spoke  seemed  to  re- 
gard the  illustration  as  his  own  —  who  uses  the  signi- 
ficant initials  W,  K,  and  Q.  The  view  that  significant 
letters  are  objectionable  is  evidently  adopted  by  the 
writos  of  the  Pu&Zic  Bt^hod  Latin  Primer,  inwhidi  Uie 
Somervell  in  P.  A.  Bamett's  TaaAlng  amd  Orgaitimitian,  p.  171. 


Fn.  10. 


390  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

solitary  little  diagram  in  the  book,  figure  16,  illustratee 
case  by  means  of  lett^s  without  significance:  — 

—  "  Case  {casus,  from  cailo)  is,  literally,  &  falling.  Grammarana  rep- 
resented that  form  which  a  Noun  takes  when  it  is  the  Subjeet  of  a 
sentence  by  an  upright  line,  as  AB,  and  likened  the  other  forms  to 
lines  falling  away  from  the  perpendicular  at  various  angles,  as,  AC, 
AD,  AE,  AF,  etc.  These  they  called  Cases;  and  their  series,  the 
declension,  declining,  or  sloping  down  of  the  word.  Afterwards, 
the  Nominative  or  Subject  case  was  called  (with  evident  impropriety) 
Casus  Rectus,  the  Upright  Case,  and  the  others  (except  the  Voca- 
tive), Casus  Obliqui,  Oblique  Cases;  whereas  the  Stem  {or  Crude  form) 
of  the  word  is  more  properly  the  upright  line,  and  the  several  cases, 
including  the  Nominative  and  Vocative,  are  branches  deflecting 
from  it.  So,  fr  ^m  the  Stem  nuo-  (walnut-tree),  the  Cases  are :  N.  V., 
nuc-fl  (-ux),  Acc.,  nue-em,  G.,  nuc-is,  D.,  nue-i,  Ab.,  nue-e." ' 

Probably  the  influence  of  custom  on  the  schoolmaster 
in  miJdng  "Diagrams  of  Illustration"  in  Euclid  had  a 
good  deal  to  do  with  the  selection  in  this  case  of  the 
first  letters  of  the  alphabet.  At  any  rate,  in  actual 
exposition  to  a  class,  experience  shows  that  it  is  better 
to  adopt  significant  letters.  0  is  substituted  for  A,  and 
S  for  B;  thus,  OS  represents  the  stem;  then  O  Ace.  would 
represent  the  accusative,  00  the  genitive,  and  so  on. 
It  would  seem  that  the  pupil  can  hardly  understand  the 
meaning  of  case  much  better  from  seeing  his  teacher 
draw  seven  lines  from  a  given  point;  but  In  practice  it 
is  said  th  ;t  the  drawmg  does  actually  help.  Probably 
some,  at  least,  of  the  advantage  comes  from  tiie  draining 
off  of  a  certain  amount  of  nervous  energy  on  the  part 
of  both  teacher  and  pupil,  an  energy  that  might  other- 
wise interfere  with  the  learning  process,  just  as  in  think- 
ing out  riders  in  Euclid  the  pupil  works  more  steadily 
when  he  has  a  pencil  in  his  hand,  even  if  he  makes  no 
use  of  it  in  the  way  of  either  drawing  or  writing. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


Danosbs  of  Illustbation 

As  an  ending  to  a  question  the  words  "Give  exam- 
ples," are  very  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  examiner. 
With  those  who  are  called  upon  to  write  answers  to  ex- 
unination  questions,  the  words  are  not  quite  so  popular. 
The  complaint  of  the  examiners  is  that  the  examples 
given  are  stereotyped.  If  an  example  is  given  in  a 
text-book,  it  reappears  with  cloying  persistency  in  the 
answers.  Out  of  nine  hundred  answers  to  a  question 
in  a  Board  of  Education  school  managranent  paper 
asking  for  an  example  of  one  word  being  run  into  an- 
other in  reading  aloud,  over  six  hundred  gave  "this 
shrub"  the  actual  phrase  used  in  a  then  popular  text- 
book. Very  few  candidates  had  the  originality  even  to 
change  the  lestt&eB  while  retaining  the  actual  example, 
as  in  "  this  stable." 

Experience  shows  that  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to 
fall  into  ruts  in  illustrating  any  particular  point.  Ask 
a  class  for  examples  of  sentences.  If  the  first  pupil 
says  "Cows  eat  grass,"  the  chances  are  that  his  fel- 
lo¥ni  will  go  on  mmitioning  what  oth«r  animalw  eat.  If 
we  wish  to  provide  reasonably  varied  examples  for 
class  work,  we  must  consider  beforehand  which  illus- 
trations we  shall  use  in  a  given  lesson.  It  is  the  com- 
monest thing  in  the  world  to  find  a  teacher  depending 
for  his  illustntions  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  If  he 

891 


392  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACmNQ 

has  a  mind  particulariy  well  stored  with  matter  on  the 
subject  he  is  dealing  with,  he  may  escape  from  the  seri- 
ous defect  of  supplying  tiresome  strings  of  more  or  less 
similar  and  eminently  commonplace  examples  of  the 
rules  he  is  expounding.  It  is  easy  enough  to  supply 
almost  unlimited  quantities  of  examples  of  particular 
kinds  of  nouns  and  verbs,  or  of  natural  orders  in  botany, 
or  of  islands  in  geography.  In  writing  on  the  black- 
board sums  to  be  worked  out,  the  teacher  finds  that  the 
numbers  come  without  the  least  difficulty.  In  all  these 
cases  the  connection  betw  een  the  rule  and  the  example 
is  so  clear  that  no  mistake  is  possible  except  through 
such  culpable  ignorance  as  is  seldom  to  be  found  among 
teachers.  Here  one  example  does  almost  as  well  as 
another.  The  content  of  the  individual  example  does 
not  affect  the  general  rule  to  be  illustrated. 

So  far,  what  may  be  called  the  hand-to-mouth  method 
of  illustration  is  innocuous,  and  is  even  advantageous, 
since  it  saves  unnecessary  labour.  So  soon  as  the  con- 
tent of  the  illustration  becomes  of  importance,  the 
method  will  be  found  to  be  full  of  danger.  The  teacher 
who  carelessly  dictites  at  random  half  a  dozen  English 
senterces  to  be  translated  into  Latin  to  illustrate  the 
construction  of  cum  with  the  subjunctive,  may  lead  to 
all  manner  of  confusion  among  his  pupils,  because  they 
find  in  the  sentences  other  difficulties  than  those  con- 
nected with  cum,  difficulties  that  Ita'/e  not  been  pre- 
pared for  by  any  previous  instruction.  A  teacher's 
brilliant  scholarship  is  no  safeguarri  against  error  here. 
All  such  illustrative  sentences  must  be  carefully  edited 
by  the  teacher  in  the  light  of  what  he  knows  of  the  previ- 
ous training  of  his  pupils.  No  doubt  there  comes  at  a 
later  stage  of  instruction  in  Latin  prose  a  time  when  the 


DANGERS  OF  ILLUSTRATION  393 


pupils  must  be  prepared  to  deal  with  unedited  English 
passages  for  translatioii  into  Latin;  for  at  that  stage 
they  have  a  sufficiently  wide  knowledge  of  Latin  con- 
struction to  allow  them  to  exercise  a  certain  freedom. 
But  even  at  this  stage  the  master  must  not  select  his 
English  passage  entirely  at  random.  Certain  passages 
cannot  be  translated  into  Latin,  since  they  contain 
words  and  ideas  Uiat  the  classical  writers  have  not 
had  the  forethought  to  anticipate. 

Some  teachers  escape  the  dangers  of  the  hand-to- 
mouth  ill  ustration  by  more  or  less  unconsciously  ac- 
quiring a  stock  of  illustrations  that  they  stereotype, 
and  keep  in  hand  so  as  to  produce  them  on  appropriate 
occasions.  Great  weariness  often  results  for  the  pupils 
who  iiave  to  submit  to  the  same  illustration  without 
explanatory  comments  that  might  make  it  intelligible. 
As  soon  as  the  question  of  transitive  or  intransitive 
came  up,  a  c^iisin  teacher  might  be  relied  upon  to 
make  the  following  r^nark,  and  no  other:  "The  cat 
cannot  sit  the  mat,  therefore  ait  is  intransitive."  Years 
afterwards  that  teacher's  pupils  spoke  with  bitterness 
of  that  intransitive  cat.  The  reproach  of  the  sieieo- 
typed  illustration  is  removed  when  it  can  be  shown  that 
it  is  a  real  touchstcme  of  truth  that  may  be  applied  to  all 
cases  within  its  sphere.  For  instance,  there  is  a  peren- 
nial difficulty  among  young  students  of  French  about 
which  of  the  verbs  take  itre  and  which  avoir  in  conju- 
gating their  past  tenses.  Some  text-books  deliberately 
give  lif/ts  of  verbs  that  are  conjugated  with  avoir,  and 
no  attempt  is  made  to  lay  down  the  principle  that  may 
explain  this  peculiarity.  This  principle  seems  to  be 
that  where  the  action  of  the  verb  is  followed  by  a  corre- 
sponding state,  the  verb  Ore  is  to  be  used ;  in  all  other 


394  EZPOfimON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEAOHINO 

cases,  the  verb  avoir.  The  stereotyped  test  is  in  the 
fonn  of  the  question : "  If  the  subject  has  done  so-and-so, 
is  it  so-and-so?  "  This  is  obviously  obscure,  so  a  parti- 
cular case  is  taken.  "If  the  subject  has  come,  is  it 
come?"  If  the  answer  is  yes,  then  Sire  is  the  verb; 
if  no,  then  avoir.  It  may  be  simpler  to  adopv,  the  form 
of  the  second  person:  "If  you  have  done  so-and-so,  are 
you  so-and-so? "  "If  you  have  eaten,  are  you  eaten? " 
No;  then  use  avoir.  But  whatever  the  form,  it  must 
enable  us  to  discriminate  between  those  cases  in  which 
a  verb  sometimes  has  itre  and  sometimes  avoir.  Take 
the  verb  descendre,  with  the  subject  le  chef.  "If  k  chef 
has  descended,  is  he  descended  ?"  Yes;  therefore  Hre. 
"Ifle  chef  has  descended  the  dinner,  is  he  descended?" 
No;  therefore  avoir.    Le  chef  a  descendu  le  diner. 

So  with  the  simpler  case  of  quotation  marks  in  writ- 
ing a  dialogue.  The  pupil  may  be  given  the  stereo- 
typed question:  Did  the  speaker  open  his  mouth  and 
let  out  the  very  words  in  question?  If  the  an8wa>i8 
yes,  then  quotation  marks  must  be  used.  With  duller 
pupils  some  teachers  adopt  the  grosser  device  of  making 
the  pupils  ask  themselves  whether  the  doubtful  words 
cou*  \  be  r^reeented  within  the  bladders  of  words  that 
are  drawn  as  coming  out  of  the  mouths  of  persons  in  in^ 
ferior  comic  cartoons.  The  method  may  be  objection- 
able because  of  its  associations  with  trashy  literature, 
but  so  far  as  being  stereotyped  is  concerned,  no  harm  is 
done,  since  the  illustration  is  of  universal  application. 

In  almost  every  subject  the  hand-to-mouth  illustra- 
tor gets  into  trouble  by  demandmg  from  his  pupils 
knowledge  that  is  not  yet  due  in  the  course  of  their 
study.  It  is  probably  unnecessary  to  labour  this 
point  here,  for  the  reader  who  has  taken  the  trouble  to 


DANGERS  OF  ILLUSTRATION  306 


follow  this  book  so  far  has  given  proof  that  he  has 
enough  interest  in  the  subject  of  method  to  prevrat  his 
making  the  disereditable  bungles  that  not  infrequently 

mark  the  teaching  of  brilliant  scholars  who  rely  upon 
their  mere  knowledge  of  the  subject  to  carry  them 
through,  without  taking  the  trouble  necessary  to  make 
their  teachmg  eflacient.  The  reader's  danger  may  in- 
deed be  quite  the  opposite.  Because  of  his  interest  in 
the  theoretical  aspect  of  his  work,  he  may  be  inclined  to 
over-elaborate  his  illustrations,  and  may  thus  fall  into 
certain  errors  that  are  likely  to  interfere  with  the  suc- 
cess of  his  teaching. 

To  begin  with,  there  is  the  danger  of  over-iliustration. 
Some  teachers  seem  to  r^ard  it  as  an  established  prin- 
ciple that  every  point  that  arises  must  be  illustrated, 
whether  it  offer  any  difficulty  or  not.  What  is  per- 
fectly clear  already  needs  no  illustration  as  a  matter  of 
Exposition.  A  straightforward  statement  of  fact  deid- 
ing  with  elonents  that  come  well  within  the  pupil's 
range  diould  not  be  illustrated,  so  long  as  the  teacher's 
purpose  at  the  time  is  only  to  get  the  pupil  to  under- 
stand. Indeed,  it  is  possible  that  by  illustrating  what 
requires  no  illustration  the  teaclisr  may  cause  needless 
difficulty  to  arise,  especially  in  the  minds  oi  the  more 
eager  and  attentive  pupils.  Accustomed  to  attach 
a  meaning  to  all  the  teacher  says,  such  pupils  are  apt 
to  think  that  since  he  makes  so  much  of  the  point  he 
is  labouring,  there  must  be  something  in  it  which  they 
do  not  yet  perceive,  and  they  may  grope  about  for  a 
meaning  that  is  not  thore. 

By  the  conmionplace  teacher  the  temptation  to  over- 
illustration  is  easily  resisted.  His  danger  lies  in  quite  a 
different  direct'on.   But  there  is  a  very  real  risk  in  the 


396  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

case  of  the  zealous  exposi  tor.  No  limit  can  be  set  to  the 
poBcdbilitieb  oi  iUustration,  cmce  the  lust  of  the  eolkctor 
is  joined  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  teacher.  Every  keen 
exjpositOT  is  a  pot^tial  grangerite. 

"In  our  time  the  term  'grangerite '  has  come  to  be  applied  to 
the  commentator  who  summons  illustration  to  his  aid  in  dealing 
with  a  book  abeady  printed.  Hiat,  however,  does  not  cover  his 
art,  which  includes  everything  bearing  on  the  elucidation  of  the  text. 
I  use  the  word  'grangerising,'  then,  as  a  term  for  the  general  art  of 
what  may  be  called  the  methodised  scrap-book  —  for  in  its  very 
method  it  differs  wid^  bom  (he  olbHpodrida  usually  known  by 
that  name." ' 

The  art,  named  after  the  Rev.  James  Granger,  who 
began  life  in  Dorset,  England,  in  1723,  is  full  of  attrac- 
tion, not  to  say  temptation,  for  the  industrious  and  in- 
genious teacher.  When  he  is  taking  a  class  through  one 
of  Shakespeare's  plays,  and  as  a  help  in  his  preparation 
cuts  up  two  cheap  copies  of  the  t^  and  pastes  the  sepa- 
rate leaves  each  in  the  middle  of  one  of  the  pages  of  a 
large  manuscript  book,  so  that  he  may  fill  the  abundant 
margin  thus  suppUed  with  notes  of  all  kinds  on  the  text, 
he  may  not  know  that  he  has  set  out  on  a  grangerising 
expedition.  He  cuts  out  some  mtical  ronaiks  from 
newspapers  or  magazines  and  pastes  them  in  his  book. 
If  he  can  get  pictures,  he  naturally  includes  them  in  h's 
collection.  By  and  by  it  is  clear  that  even  the  ht^j 
manuscript  page  is  insufficient,  and  a  new  book  is  neces- 
sary. He  is  not  likely  to  go  to  the  excess  that  drove 
Lef^vre  to  grangerise  Voltaire  into  ninety  volumes, 
but  he  may  very  easily  be  carried  away  Oeyond  the 
bounds  of  prudence.  Kept  within  modest  limits,  a 
grangerised  copy  of  a  classic  to  be  studied  or  a  text- 

>  J.  M.  Bullock :  The  Art  qf  Extra^lUuairatum  (1903)  p.  10. 


DAKCHBB8  OF  IIXUSTRATIOir  907 


book  to  be  taught  is  a  valuable  possession,  both  for  the 
information  it  actually  contains  and  for  the  mastery  of 
the  subject  that  its  oompUation  hdpe  to  secure.  But 
there  is  always  the  danger  of  the  collecting  interest 
getting  the  upper  hand,  and  the  book  becoming  an 
end  in  itself.  Instead  of  illustrating  the  original  text, 
it  dwarfs  that  text,  swamps  it,  drowns  it.  The  teacher 
must  never  forget  that  as  teacher  his  interest  lies  in  ex- 
pounding the  text  or  other  subject.  His  illustrations 
are  to  be  illustrations  of  the  original  subject.  The 
grangeriser  very  rapidly  gets  off  the  main  line  and  goes 
on  illustrating  illustrations,  till  the  real  subject  is  left 
far  behind.  What  the  teacher  must  avdd  is  well 
exenqdified  in  HjU  Burton's  caricature  of  the  granger- 
ite's  methods  of  illustrating  the  familiar  lines: — 

How  doth  the  little  busy  bee 

Improve  each  shining  hour. 
And  gather  honey  all  the  day 

BVom  every  openhug  flower. 

"He  pictured  him  startbg  with  the  poet,  Isaac  Watte.  Tide 
would  8U0^  all  iwMiiMw  of  bees, — Attic  and  other, — and  all  sorts  of 
beehives  would  be  appropriate,  to  be  followed  by  portraits  of  Ruber 
and  other  bee-collectors,  and  views  of  Mount  Hybla  and  other 
^oney  diitricte.  Burton  poured  good-humoured  contempt  on  the 
!  rocess  by  drawing  out  the  agony  of  subjects  to  be  illustrated; 
r  at  in  the  forty  years  that  have  elapsed  since  he  penned  the  Book 
Hunttr,  the  subjeot  of  the  bee  has  been  extended  to  a  point  more 
elaborate  than  Burton  ever  contemplated.  To-day  the  exhaustive 
(and  exhausting)  grangerite  would  have  to  include,  for  example, 
a  portrait  of  UaBterHndi,  wbo  has  told  m  Uie  et(H7  of  tlM  bee  fai 
terms  of  the  most  charming  philosophy,  to  say  nothing  of  Jiord 
Avebury's  many  works,  and  the  scientific  construction  of  the  bee- 
hive. Burtfmthai  went  (m  to  nythat  the  grangerite  would  have 
to  remember  that  there  was  once  a  periodical  called  the  £M,ecBted 
by  Dr.  Anderson,  who  was  the  grandfather  oi  Sir  James  Oatnm, 


896  EZPOemON  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TBAOHINO 


wbow  csner  mi^t  be  included.  FinsOy,  he  genially  suggested 
that,  when  the  illustrator  came  to  the  last  line,  'wliidi  invites  him  to 
add  to  what  he  has  already  collected  a  representative  of  every 
opening  flower,  it  is  easy  indeed  to  see  tliat  he  had  a  rich  garden  of 
delights  before  him."" 

A  Fteaeh  psychologist,  writing  on  the  theory  of 
laughter,  admits  that  he  used  to  read  the  examples  of 
fallacious  reasoning  in  his  text-book  on  logic,  as  a  sort  of 
legitimate  jest-book.  George  Eliot  gives  us  a  delight- 
fully true  accoimt  of  the  seductive  charms  of  the 
matter  supplied  in  the  illustratiye  examples  m  the 
Latin  grammar.  Maggie  Tulliver :  ~ 

"presently  made  up  her  mind  to  skip  the  rules  in  the  Syntax  — 
the  examples  became  so  absorbing.  These  mysterious  sentences 
matched  from  an  imknown  context  —  like  strange  horns  of  beasts, 
and  leaves  of  unknown  pbmts,  brought  from  mme  far^  ref^n  — 
gave  boundless  scope  for  her  imagination  —  the  fortunate  gentle- 
man whom  every  one  congratulated  because  he  had  a  son  'en- 
dowed with  sudi  a  disposition '  afforded  her  a  great  deal  at  pleasant 
conjecture;  and  die  was  quite  kwt  in  the  'thick  grove  penetnyble 
by  no  star.' "  * 

We  have  here  a  force  with  which  every  teacher  has 
to  reckon,  the  examples  always  have  been  and  always 
will  be  so  absorbing.  As  a  nile  they  are  not  in  them- 
sdves  dangerously  interesting:  th^  usually  obtain 
their  power  by  contrast  with  the  still  less  entertaining 
matter  of  the  text.  Even  the  publisher's  advertise- 
ments at  the  end  of  the  book  are  not  without  their 
attractions  as  a  relief  from  what  the  book  itself  con- 
tains. Making  all  allowance  for  this  unearned  incre- 
m^t  of  interest  that  attadies  to  examples,  we  find  that 

'  J.  M.  Bulloek;  The  Arttf  Extra  /Sutfrafum,  p.  19  (published  1903). 
The  original  passage  will  be  found  in  The  Book  Hunter,  Part  I,  "Class- 
ification." *  MiU  on  the  FUtu,  Book  II,  Chap.  L 


DANGERS  OF  ILLUSTRATION  300 


the  legitimate  attraetion  of  the  enmplee  is  a  dangerous 
rival  to  the  teacher.   The  way  to  meet  the  diflBculty  is 
not  to  make  all  the  examples  of  the  most  uninteresting 
character,  but  to  select  them,  as  far  as  possible,  from 
matter  that  has  already  exhausted  its  interest  in 
other  parts  of  school  work.   Let  the  teacher  conrider 
tiie  wiles  of  the  clever  advertudng  tailor  and  learn  of  him. 
In  a  certain  shop  in  Holbom,  London,  there  appeared 
a  little  while  ago  a  new  set  of  wax  heads  to  surmount  the 
dummies  that  displayed  the  ready-made  suits  m  the 
window.  The  new  heads  w«e  exceedmgly  well  made 
and  formed  a  very  agreeable  change  from  the  wooden 
knobs  that  had  formerly  finished  off  the  dummies. 
The  passers-by  were  greatly  interested,  and  gave  un- 
stinted admiration  to  the  type  of  head  adopted.  There 
was,  however,  one  fatal  defect  from  the  point  of  view 
of    ^  critical  public.  The  whole  thirteoi  heads  were 
oi       ily  the  same  i»ttem;  in  fact,  they  were  the  same 
hev-  ,  east  in  the  same  mould,  coloured  with  the  same 
pigments  and  by  the  same  process,  supplied  with  the 
same  glass  eyes  -nd  the  same  curly  brown  hair.  On 
being  remonstrated  with,  the  tailor  admitted  thai  his 
aim  was  not  entirely  disinterested.   The  heads  were 
specially  good  in  order  to  attract  attention  to  his 
window.   They  were  made  exactly  alike  so  as  to  ex- 
haust very  rapidly  the  mterest  of  the  onlooker,  who, 
disappointed  at  the  similarity,  sought  for  and  obtained 
the  necessary  variety  by  CTaminhig  the  diffefent  Idaib 
of  suits  of  clothes. 

In  the  case  of  teachers  who  use  as  examples  matter 
that  has  aheady  exhausted  its  mterest  in  other  depart- 
ments of  school  work,  there  is  a  double  end  a»ved  — 
old  matter  is  revised,  and  a  new  Intenal  b  eiMted  i&  it» 


400  EXPOSrriOM  and  ILLUSTRATIOir  or  TlACBIirQ 

wfaieh  new  intflnat  is  of  exactly  the  kind  the  teacher 
desires  to  arouse,  for  it  is  connected  .with  the  work 

actually  in  hand.  The  pupil  is  interested  to  know  what 
the  teacher  is  going  to  do  with  this  familiar  old  fact 
that  is  bemg  presented.  The  whole  question  of  corre- 
lation is  involved  here.  Teachers  are  now  aware  of  the 
dangers  of  weariness  that  are  implieit  in  the  overseal- 
ous  use  of  correlation.  But  our  present  consideration 
recognises  the  loss  of  interest  in  certain  parts  of  school 
work,  and  proposes  to  take  advantage  of  this  loss. 
Certain  matter  is  selected  because  it  has  lost  its  in- 
trinsic interest,  and  if,  m  the  process  of  teaddng,  accn 
tain  amount  of  mediate  interest  is  devdoped,  that  is 
all  to  the  good. 

One  of  the  chief  dangers  of  the  use  of  illustration  is 
connected  with  this  problem  of  the  incidence  of  atten- 
tion. There  is  always  the  risk  that  the  illustration 
will  prove  more  attractive  than  the  illustrandum. 
The  attraction  to  which  Maggie  Tulliver  yielded  is  not 
confined  to  examples.  An  illustration  fails  when  it 
derails  the  mterest  of  the  pupils  from  the  main  Imes  of 
the  lessen.  In  the  case  of  certain  material  illustrations, 
such  as  models  or  pictures,  the  doniling  of  interaet  is  so 
obvious  that  it  at  once  attracts  the  teacher's  attention, 
and  he  takes  means  to  recall  it  to  the  main  subject. 
This  is  comparatively  easily  done  if  he  has  the  sense  to 
allow  the  illustration  to  exhaust  most  of  its  primitive 
interest  before  he  proceeds  to  use  it  as  a  mere  iUustra^ 
tion.  It  used  to  be  a  matter  of  professional  pride  with 
a  class  teacher  not  to  let  a  particularly  interesting  ob- 
ject be  seen  till  the  moment  came  at  which  it  had  to  be 
produced  for  illustration.  No  great  harm  resulted  if, 
when  it  was  introduced,  the  teacher  allowed  a  reason^ 


DAMQERI  or  ILLUVnUTIOff 


401 


able  time  for  the  pupils  to  ^oat  over  it  before  he  1 
to  demand  their  attentkm  to  ita  purely  iUuatnitive 
aspect.  The  skilful  leeturer,  on  presenting  an  attrac- 
tive slide  on  the  screen,  follows  the  plan  recommended 
in  Chapter  VIII/  and  allows  a  reasonable  time  for  the 
subsidence  of  that  gasp  of  appreciation  with  its  suc- 
ceeding murmur  of  whispers  that  wdoomee  every  strik- 
ing picture.  Wlwn  he  does  begin  to  talk,  he  takes  eare 
to  deal  with  comparatively  unimportant  matters  till 
the  edge  of  the  intrinsic  interest  of  the  slide  is  blunted. 
If  the  sUde  is  really  important  as  an  illustration,  he 
may  introduce  it  at  an  early  stage  in  his  leeture  mslnly 
to  mb  off  its  intrinne  attawtion.  At  its  first  Mpptut- 
ance  he  merely  calls  attention  to  facts  that  are  in  any 
case  attracting  the  attention  ,1  his  audience;  when, 
at  a  later  stage,  it  reappears,  he  is  ible  to  direct  the 
attention  of  his  hearers  in  the  way  L  j  desues,  for  they 
are  now  able  to  ecmcentoate  on  the  line  oi  teocmdary 
interest  as  brought  out  in  the  illustrative  process. 

Too  frequently  the  derailing  of  interest  is  not  antici- 
pated by  the  teacher,  because  he  has  failed  to  consider 
the  immediately  preceding  content  of  the  minds  of  the 
pupils.  Any  reference  to  oertain  of  the  mom  urgent 
interests  of  the  pupils  may  be  an  exoeUent  way  of  getting 
up  a  secondary  interest  in  some  part  of  school  work. 
Mensuration  may  be  connected  with  the  football  field 
or  the  cricket  pitch,  hydrostatics  with  boating,  dynam- 
ics wiUi  tiie  proceedings  in  the  gymnasium.  But  in 
all  such  diere  is  great  dangor  of  dorailing  the  in- 
terest from  the  school  subject.  No  doubt  it  may  be 
won  back  again,  but  in  a  case  of  class  instruction  it  is 
probable  biiat  the  temporary  aberration  has  caused  at 

>p.  208. 

3r 


402 


fnON  AND  ILLUinUTION  Of  TBAOBma 


kait  ft  few  pupils  to  lose  lome  important  link  that  they 
may  not  be  able  to  eatdi  up  during  the  course  of  the 

keson. 

The  teacher  has  to  remember  that  every  illustration 
he  uses  must  run  the  gantlet  of  divergent  association  in 
the  mind  of  every  one  in  his  class.  He  can  never  be 
quite  sure  that  the  moet  innooent  ilhtstration  may  not 
derail  the  interest  of  some  of  his  pupils,  even  ***nt!gh 
he  takes  all  possible  precautions.  But  he  ought  at  least 
to  minimise  the  danger  by  doing  all  he  can  to  remove 
temptations.  For  example,  he  must  avoid  the  arith- 
meiieai  ehaUenge,  of  whidi  we  have  already  had  one  or 
two  examples.'  Certain  minds  are  so  constituted  that 
as  soon  as  two  terms  of  an  arithmetical  problem  are 
presented,  they  must  proceed  at  once  to  work  it  out. 
K  at  one  part  of  a  literatu^-e  lesson  the  master  mentions 
that  Iw  first  read  Lycidaa  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  at  a 
Utter  stage  that  H  is  now  a  quarter  of  a  eentury  sinoe 
he  first  read  Lycidaa,  a  large  number  of  his  pupils  will 
neglect  the  point  he  is  making  in  speaking  of  the  differ- 
ent effect  of  Lyddas  on  the  boy  and  on  the  man :  iheir 
attention  will  be  taken  up  in  calculating  the  exact  age 
of  the  mastor.  Young  people  are  particularly  open  to 
the  arithmetical  challenge  when  it  implies  a  oertain 
amount  of  criticism  of  a  statement  made.  Though  it 
was  an  adult  mathematician  who  made  the  following 
arithmetical  criticism  of  Tennyson,  it  is  quite  in  the 
schoolboy  vdn.  In  his  Vinon  of  Sin  Tennyson  vul- 
tures the  statement: — 

>  Pages  250,  309.  An  ezoellent  example  of  the  irritating  effect  of 
the  challenge  is  to  be  found  In  the  quotation  from  Mauelair  on  p.  S87. 
The  hourly  change  and  the  "twwity  times"  call  for  ezplaDatoiyeoai* 
mmt. 


DAH am  07  iLLumuTioir 


40t 


The  miB  ol  figurtt  «t  onetaeiMpted  the  challenge,  and 
pelted  oat  that  if  this  were  true,  the  population  of  the 
world  would  neoeisarily  remain  stationary,  which,  of 
course,  was  contrary  to  recognised  facte.  He  auggested 
as  an  emendation  the  following:  — 


He  admitl  3d  that  it  waa  Bol  alMohitely  aoeonto,  but  H 
was  at  leaat  appradmatflly  ooRMt  It  ii  beeaiue  thii 

perverse  mathematician  takes  such  an  unreasonable 
view  that  the  story  forms  a  useful  illustration.  The 
pupil  ought  to  be  thinking;  in  terms  of  poetry;  if  he 
persists  in  thinking  in  terms  oi  number,  there  ki  leiioiai 
damage  done  to  the  ksicm.  Even  when  no  reference  to 
number  is  involved  in  the  exposition,  certain  minds  are 
tempted  to  introduce  calculation.  One  of  tlie  students 
of  an  exceptionally  slow  lecturer  at  Oxford  confessed 
that,  in  the  inordinate  pauses  dunng  the  lecture,  he  ac- 
quired a  habit  of  oalculating  what  eadi  pause  eoit  him 
on  the  bads  <rf  so  much  for  a  course  of  twelve  lectures 
of  one  hour  each.  The  moral  for  the  teacher  is  that 
Satan's  employment  bureau  does  not  limit  itself  to 
manual  labor. 

Teachers  should  be  very  careful 'm  their  use  of  the 
aUusive  style.  Any  reference,  for  example,  to  a  pereon 
or  place  without  mentioning  the  name  will  often  set  up  a 
disturbance  that  takes  quite  a  long  time  to  settle  down. 
To  refer  to  Milton  in  a  lesson  merely  as  "the  author  of 
the  Defensio  Populi  Anglieani"  may  give  satirfaetkm 
>  Quoted  by  Paratua  in  the  BriHak  WmOn,  June  8, 1900. 


Every  moment  dies  a  man, 
And  MM  sad  a  iixtsMitk  is  bora."  * 


404  E2CP0SITI0N  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

to  a  certain  number  of  pupils  who  happen  to  know  who 
is  meant.  But  to  certain  others  the  referrace  will  prove 
a  stumbling-block,  for  they  will  go  on  wondering  who  it 
can  be,  when  they  should  be  following  the  work  of  the 
class.  In  this  particular  case  the  average  boy  would 
probably  not  trouble  much,  for  the  reference  is  not  in 
itself  interesting  to  him.  But  let  the  teacher  use  some 
superlative  descriptive  reference,  and  dissipation  of 
attention  will  necessarily  follow.  "The  \/orst  king 
who  ever  ruled  England,"  "the  author  of  the  longest 
poem  in  the  English  language,"  are  references  that  will 
disturb  any  intellig&it  class.  It  goes  without  saying 
that  it  is  a  laudable  thing  to  be  interested  in  discover- 
ing the  actual  persons  referred  to  in  such  statements. 
The  trouble  is  that  the  interest  is  roused  at  the  wrong 
time.  We  are  so  fond  of  rousing  interest  that  we  are 
apt  to  forget  that  it  is  as  necessary  to  allay  interest 
as  to  excite  it.  In  order  that  the  interest  of  the  pupils 
in  the  main  subject  of  the  lesson  may  be  maintained, 
all  subordinate  interests  must  be  ruthlessly  dissipated. 
The  way  to  kill  an  interest  is  to  satisfy  it.  Nothing 
must  be  left  for  the  imagination  to  work  upon.  Every- 
thing must  be  represented  with  pikestaff  direetneBS, 
and  the  mind  will  seek  interest  elsewhere. 

While  writing  the  above  paragraph  I  have  furnished 
for  myself  an  unexpected  and  involuntary  illustration 
of  my  theme.  No  sooner  had  I  written  the  words, 
"the  author  of  the  longest  poem  in  the  Enc^iah  language, 
than  I  began  to  feel  uncomfortable.  I  realised  Uiat  I 
did  not  know  who  he  was,  and  I  began  to  wonder  who 
he  could  possibly  be.  Milton  wandered  through  my 
mind,  and  distracted  my  attention  from  the  main  sub- 
ject of  the  paragraph.  I  had  an  uneaqr  feeUng  that, 


DANGERS  OF  ILLUSTRATION  405 


thoue^  the  Paradiae  Lost  was  long,  it  was  far  from  being 
the  longest  poem  in  the  English  language.  I  had  a 
vague  memory  of  havinp  hi^fj  i  tlve  ohrase  "the  longest 
poem  in  the  English  la  tguage"  apyiisd  to  Drayton's 
PolyoUnon.  But  there  tame  to  me  the  disquieting  im- 
pression that  I  had  somcwhei.'e  ^ead  that  one  of  the  in- 
dustrious early  settlers  in  New  England  had  outstripped 
Drayton.  Could  it  be  Michael  Wigglesworth?  Next  I 
comforted  myself  with  the  reflection  that  all  I  had  to  do 
was  to  turn  to  some  standard  book  on  the  subject  of  lit- 
erature, and  get  the  matter  settled ;  so  I  was  able  to  dis- 
miss temporarily  the  troublesome  interest  in  favour  <rf 
the  general  interest,  which  was,  in  any  case,  the  stronger. 
Had  I  been  a  careless  pupil  in  a  class  with  a  sporting 
interest  in  superlatives,  and  little  interest  in  what  was 
going  on  at  the  time,  it  is  probable  that  I  should  have 
continued  to  worry  about  that  longest  poem  instead  of 
turning  to  the  main  subject.* 

As  a  test  of  the  truth  of  the  view  here  adopted,  let  the 
reader  try  to  remember  whether  his  attention  was  not  a 
little  dissipated,  and  if,  indeed,  he  was  not  somewhat 
annoyed  by  the  unfinii^ed  soitence,  "The  moat  op- 
timistic writer  on  Education  is  .  .  .,"  introduced'  in 
Chapter  I  to  illustrate  the  mind's  tendency  to  anticipate 
what  is  coming.  Since  the  hiatus  has  served  its  pur- 
pose, the  reader  is  now  entitled  to  the  tardy  explana- 

*  On  referring  to  t«ct4)ook8, 1  found  no  help  in  settling  the  questira, 
so  I  fell  back  upon  an  examination  of  some  of  the  poems  that  might 
claim  first  rank.  Paradite  Lott  reaches  the  modest  total  of  a  trifle 
over  10,800  Unes.  Tb»  P6tif9lHm  attains  to  neariy  16,000.  Th$ 
Ring  and  the  Book  swells  out  to  21,133  lines.  But  the  limit  seems 
to  be  reached  in  Featue,  a  Poem,  by  Philip  James  Bailey,  which,  in 
its  teorganiiwd  form  (Fiftieth  Anniversary  Edition,  1893),  tmtim  • 
total  that  on  a  rough  calculation  amounts  to  40,800  lines. 

•Seep.  15. 


406  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHINQ 

tion  that  the  writer  refmed  to  is  Helvetius,  who  boldly 
proclaims  "  L'^ducation  peut  tout." 

Under  certain  conditions  the  allusive  style  may  be 
excellent  in  print,  but  when  used  in  lecturing  or  teaching, 
it  ought  to  be  limited  to  the  most  obvious  allusions, 
allusions  that  are  well  within  the  range  of  the  less 
informed  of  the  class  or  audience,  so  that  the  main 
effect  of  the  allusion  will  be  to  rouse  that  feeling  of  sat- 
isfaction that  accompanies  the  recognition  of  an  old 
friend  under  new  circumstances.  A  typical  example 
of  the  sort  of  thing  that  may  perhaps  be  permitted  in  a 
book,  but  that  must  be  excluded  from  oral  teaching,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  extract  from  Madame  de  Coulevain 
in  Chapter  XI  of  this  book.'  There  we  find  allusions  to 
"a  king,"  and  to  "two  of  our  great  newspapers,  one  of 
our  best  reviews."  At  this  point  Madame  de  Coule- 
vun's  reader  puts  his  finger  between  the  leaves  and 
leans  back,  wondering  who  that  king  and  what  those 
publications  can  be.  Unless  from  the  point  of  view 
of  piquancy,  the  allusions  are  a  mistake  in  exposition. 
If  there  were  any  indication  of  how  the  missing  names 
could  be  discovered  by  the  reader  for  himself,  there 
might  be  some  justification  for  the  mystification,  since 
it  would  rouse  him  to  take  a  fau"  share  of  the  work. 
But  as  they  stand,  they  only  aggravate  the  reader  by 
making  him  feel  his  ignorance  and  —  it  is  no  extenu- 
ating circumstance  to  add  —  Madame  de  Coulevain's 
superiority.  Apart  from  this  unprofitable  disturbance 
of  mind,  the  same  end  could  be  obtained  by  saying 
merely  that  a  king  could  be  as  bourgeois  as  the  tenant 
of  a  flat,  and  that  some  of  our  great  newspapers  and 
reviews  are  bourgeois.  In  a  lecture  or  lesson  the  hearer 

'  Sw  p.  2M. 


DANGERS  OF  ILLUSTRATION  407 


would  not  only  be  irritated  by  the  unintelligible  allu- 
sion, he  would,  necessarily,  from  the  distraction  of  his 
attention,  lose  a  great  deal  of  what  immediately  fol- 
lows the  derailing  references.  If  the  authoress  means 
Louis  Phihppe,  why  not  say  so?  The  names  of  the  two 
great  newspapers  and  the  review  would  be  much  more 
illuminating  than  the  piquant  riddle  she  has  set  us. 
No  doubt,  in  thus  making  our  references  specific  we 
kill  a  certain  amount  of  interest,  but  the  interest  killed 
is  of  the  unhealthy,  distracting  kind;  and  it  has  always 
to  be  remmbered  that  we  are  mainly  conc^ned  here 
with  the  didactic  use  of  illustration. 

An  author  may  feel  that  it  is  worth  while  to  aggravate 
his  duller  readers  so  long  as  he  wins  the  admiration  of 
the  clever,  and  if  he  is  prepared  to  pay  the  price,  there 
is  nothing  more  to  be  said.  The  irritated  reader,  on  his 
part,  is  free  to  throw  aside  the  tantalismg  book.  But 
when  it  comes  to  oral  exposition,  it  is  necessary  to  carry 
the  whole  of  one's  audience  with  one.  We  cannot,  of 
course,  as  Dr.  Johnson  pointed  out  with  some  asperity, 
supply  our  hear^  with  understanding,  but  we  are  not 
justified  in  distracting  what  understanding  they  pos- 
sess by  leading  it  into  blind  alleys. 

I  have  had  occasion  already  to  refer  to  the  teacher's 
overgrown  respect  for  accuracy.  In  certain  forms  of 
illustration  this  respect  leads  him  into  serious  diffieuItiflB, 
for  there  practically  emerge  two  kinds  of  accuracy, 
and  these  two  kinds  cannot  be  reconciled.  He  has  to 
make  a  drawing  of  the  earth  as  an  "oblate  spheroid." 
If  he  makes  an  accurate  drawing,  the  pupils  will  be  un- 
able to  notice  any  difference  between  his  drawing  and  an 
ordinary  circle,  but  if  he  flattens  the  polar  aids  suffi- 
ciently to  make  Uie  true  dkapei^yparent,  he  has  pli^red 


408  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


i.uvoo  with  the  other  kind  of  accuracy,  and  multiplied 
numy  times  the  p&Ltry  six-and-twenty  miles  by  which 

the  equatorial  diameter  e  cceeds  the  polar.  Sir  John 
Herschel  may  speak  bluntly  about  circles  representing 
the  orbits  of  the  planets,  but  knowing  that  the  orbits  are 
really  ellipses,  the  teacher  is  in  a  strait  between  two.  If 
he  draws  them  as  circles,  he  is  inaccurate  qualitatively, 
for  they  are  not  circles;  but  if  he  draws  them  elliptiwd 
enough  to  make  his  class  easily  perceive  that  they  are 
not  circles,  then  he  has  to  err  quantitatively.  For  they 
are  not  so  elliptical  as  all  that.  Clearly,  the  teacher 
must  be  allowed  suflScient  quantitative  exaggeration 
to  make  clear  his  qualitative  distinctions.  If  his  pupils 
are  at  a  stage  at  which  it  is  important  that  they  should 
know  that  the  earth  is  an  oblate  spheroid,  then  he  must 
be  permitted  so  to  represent  it  as  to  suggest  that  particu- 
lar form.  It  is  quite  a  different  matter  when  little 
children  are  seduloudy  taught  that  the  eurth  is  "nearly, 
but  not  quite,  a  perfect  globe."  This  is  the  same  lust 
for  accuracy  that  has  canonised  the  additional  two  feet 
in  the  height  of  Kinchinjunga  —  "twenty-nine  thou- 
sand and  two  feet."  Naturally,  intelligent  pupils  will 
be  warned  when  necessary  exaggerations  are  made. 
They  will  be  told,  for  example,  that  though  the  earth's 
orbit  is  elliptical,  its  major  axis  is  not  quite  so  big  in 
proportion  to  the  minor  as  the  drawing  would  make  out. 

Another  very  real  danger  in  the  use  of  illustration  is  the 
tendency  to  carry  over  the  illustration  as  a  whole  with 
non-essential  as  well  as  essential  elements.  A  teadier 
wished  his  class  to  understand  that  for  a  particular  ex- 
periment he  was  describing  it  was  necessary  to  cut  out 
an  oblong  piece  from  the  middle  of  one  end  of  a  board. 
Ab  some  cS  the  pupils  had  a  difficulty  in  understandmg 


DANGERS  OF  ILLUSTRATION  409 


what  he  meant,  he  explained  that  the  bit  cut  out  was  to 
leave  a  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  board,  so  that  when  it 
was  placed  on  end  there  would  be  an  opening  in  it  like 
the  entrance  to  a  dog's  kennel.   This  seemed  to  satisfy 
the  pupils,  but  at  a  later  stage,  when  they  had  to  make 
a  drawing  of  the  apparatus,  several  of  them  made  the 
board  appear  as  a  pentagon,  like  the  gable  end  of  a 
house.   They  had  carried  the  kennel  comparison  too 
far.   What  in  this  case  could  be  tested  by  the  sketches, 
would,  in  the  case  of  merely  verbal  description,  probably 
have  escaped  detection,  and  with  young  children,  in 
particular,  it  is  probable  that  many  of  our  illustrations 
are  carried  over  bodily  and  incorpors.ted  in  connections 
in  which  certain  of  their  elements  are  quite  out  of  place.* 
The  teacher  must  be  continually  on  his  guard,  and  must 
try  to  anticipate  and  avoid  possible  misconceptions  of 
this  kind.   Nearly  always  he  will  find  that,  in  spite  of 
all  his  endeavours,  some  dull,  commonplace  child  has 
contrived  an  impossible  combination  that,  had  it  been 
deliberately  made,  would  be  regarded  as  very  mgenious. 
To  meet  such  contingencies  a  certain  amount  of  verbal 
pruning  is  necessary,  but  above  all  there  ou^t  to  be  a 
good  deal  of  intercourse  m  the  way  of  applying  illustra- 
tions.   A  teacher  in  a  city  school,  in  givmg  a  lesson  on 
the  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade  at  Balaclava,  made 
a  sketch-plan  on  the  blackboard,  with  the  Russian  guns 
on  the  right  of  the  board  and  the  formation  ci  hussan 
represented  by  two  vertical  lines  on  the  left.   The  class 
as  a  whole  seemed  to  understand  the  state  of  affairs  on 
the  field,  but  in  the  course  of  discussion  it  came  out 
that  some  of  the  boys  (the  average  age  of  the  claaa  was 
12+)  thought  a  mistake  had  been  made  in  the  paiHicm 
» 01.  tiM  Gutle  mintiidantMMaab  p.  113. 


410  EXPOSITION  AND  HAUSTRATION  IN  TBAOBOrO 

the  hussars.  As  they  were  represmted,  the  boys 
maintained,  they  were  chargmg  eiUier  north  or  south 
instead  of  eastwards,  as  they  ought  to  do  if  they  meant 
to  get  at  the  Russian  guns.  On  probing,  the  teacher 
discovered  that  the  double  line  had  misled  the  boys. 


There  was  a  cavalry  barracks  in  the  city,  and  when  the 
troops  passed  through  the  streets,  they  always  went  two 
abreast  because  of  the  traffic.  The  boys  had  got  it  into 
their  heads  that  this  two-abreast  mode  of  progression 
was  the  natural  one  for  avahy,  and  that  therefore  they 
would  charge  in  this  order.  It  was  a  revelation  to  them 
that  the  charge  was  made  with  such  a  wide  front. 

Allied  to  this  error  of  carrying  over  non-essentials  is 
that  of  arousing  altogether  wrong  masses  of  ideas  through 
some  superficial  resemblance.  Beginners  in  landscape 
painting  are  warned  against  the  little  ^cottage  on  the 
hilteide  with  its  twc  iny  wmdows,  one  on  each  idde  ci  the 


DANGERS  OF  ILLUBTBATION  ,  411 


door,  and  the  little  doontep,  with  the  resulting  resem- 
blance to  a  grotesque  human  face.  Not  infrequently 
young  people  see  a  ludicrous  aspect  of  some  matter  that 
to  the  adult  mind  appears  to  be  of  the  most  matter-of- 
fact  character.  "  Spoakmg  of  babies,"  said  the  Sunday- 
school  superintendent,  "I  have  a  baby  in  my  eye  now." 
He  was  quite  serious,  and  did  not  at  first  understand 
what  the  youngsters  found  to  laugh  at  in  what  he  re- 
garded as  a  very  commonplace  statement.  Occasion- 
ally private  jokes  of  this  kind  interrupt  the  attention 
of  mdiyidual  pupils,  but  it  is  the  business  of  a  good 
teachor  to  anticipate  and  provide  against  any  such 
misapplication  of  ordinary  words,  so  far  as  such  mis- 
applications are  likely  to  affect  a  whole  class.  The 
teacher's  safety  here  depends  upon  his  knowledge  of 
the  pupil's  mental  content.  Unintrational  jokes  in 
class  are  always  the  marie  dther  of  ignorance  w  of  bad 
psychology. 

Illustrations  are  oftei  put  in  what  the  illustrator 
regards  as  a  striking  way,  and  yet  are  apt  to  mislead  the 
pupils  because  of  their  very  vividness.   I  have  heard  a 
teadier,  in  seeking  to  give  his  class  an  adequate  ictea  oi  the 
mzeof  London,  make  the  statement  that  if  all  the  houses 
in  that  city  were  placed  end  to  end,  they  would  reach 
right  round  the  earth,  following  the  equator.  In  dealing 
with  the  class  afterwards,  I  foimd  that  the  general 
impresnon  produced  was  complicated  by  an  ineongm- 
ous  picture  m  the  pupils'  minds  of  an  interminable 
street,  with  only  one  side  to  it.   Quite  a  number  of  the 
pupils  had  the  literal  objection  that  most  of  the  houses 
would  be  flooded,  as  the  equator  was  for  most  of  the 
time  over  the  ocean.   On  addng  the  teacher  how  he 
got  his  data  for  the  measureim&t,  he  fiwnldy  etaikmtd 


412  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLU8TBATI0N  IN  TBAOHINO 


that  he  had  no  data,  but  "thought  it  would  be  a  very 
^active  way  of  bringing  home  to  the  olasB  the  enor- 
mous extent  of  the  city."  He  further  wanted  to  know, 
"morals  apart,"  what  objection  I  had  to  the  illustra- 
tion. The  objection  is  indicated  in  the  incongruity 
brought  out  above,  and  also  in  the  mistaken  notion 
that  in  some  way  or  other  the  imagination  of  the  pupils 
is  aided  by  the  picture  of  this  straggling  stoeet.  After 
all,  the  figure  suggested  great  extent,  but  nothing 
more.  It  carried  the  pupils  far  past  the  Threi^old  of 
Stun. 

A  companion  picture  to  that  supplied  by  this  ingen- 
ious teacher  is  to  be  found  in  a  text-book  of  gec^^phy 
that  seeks  to  emphasise  the  progress  of  London  in  this 
way :  "A  house  rises  out  of  the  ground  every  hour  of  the 
day;  a  village  of  more  than  three  hundred  persons  is 
added  to  its  population  every  day."  *  This  has  ob- 
viously no  pictorial  value.  We  certainly  do  not  want 
to  figure  forth  the  hourly  emergence  of  a  c<nnpleted 
house,  and  the  very  name  of  a  village  suggests  some- 
thing antipathetic  to  the  city  spirit.  The  mere  state- 
ment of  a  daily  increase  of  three  hundred  inhabitants 
is  suffici^tly  clear  without  the  obscuring  figure.  So 
far  as  the  figure  is  pictorial,  it  is  inaccurate.  The  popu- 
lation does  not  increase  in  that  good-naturedly  uniform 
way.  The  figure  interferes  with  the  pupil's  chance  of 
clearly  understanding  the  theory  of  averages.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  in  actual  experience  I  have  found 
that  quite  a  li^  percentage  of  those  to  whom  I  have 
presented  this  illustration  have  at  once  accepted  the 
arithmetical  challenge  and  multiplied  300  by  365  to  get 
the  annual  increase,  and  have  maintained  that  the 

*  Meiklejohn  :  The  British  Empire,  p.  49. 


DANGERS  OF  ILLVSTRATIOir  413 


resulting  109,500  was  much  more  stimulating  fhaa  tlie 
daily  village. 

There  may  be  cases  at  a  very  low  stage  qf  intelligence 
when  a  crude  illustration  of  a  pictorial  kind  may  enable 
a  person  to  understand  in  a  very  inaccurate  and  in- 
complete way  something  that  he  camiot  otherwise 
understand  at  all.  To  this  class  belongs  the  ingenious 
figure  by  which  one  Italian  rustic  conveyed  to  another, 
who  was  puzzled  by  the  telegraph,  some  conception  of 
the  possibility  of  what  a  man  does  at  one  end  of  a  wire 
producmg  an  effect  at  the  other.  Starting  from  the 
well-known  fact  that  if  you  pinch  your  dog*s  tail  the 
bark  issues  from  the  other  end,  the  expositor  invited  his 
friend  to  imagine  that  his  dog  grew  long  enough  to  reach 
from  Milan  to  Rome,  having  ite  tail  end  in  Milan  and 
its  head  end  in  Rome.  It  then  became  clear  that,  if 
you  pinch  the  tail  in  Milan,  the  bark  will  take  place  in 
Rome.^ 

In  deaUng  with  Exemplification,  it  is  obvious  that 
the  elements  found  in  the  illustration  must  be  cognate 
with  those  found  in  tb^  illustrandum.  But  when  we 
are  dealing  with  analogical  illustration,  it  is  desirable 
that  the  material  should  be  diffa«it  in  the  two  cases. 
This  is  manifestly  true  in  the  aesthetic  use,  but  it  also 
holds  in  didactic  work.  It  is  a  mistake  to  use  exactly 
the  same  sort  of  material  in  the  illustration  as  is  found 
in  the  illustrandum,  unless  the  very  fact  of  this  cwn- 
munity  of  material  is  to  be  utilised  as  a  part  of  the  illus- 
trative jwocesB.  If  youtumtoChapt«V,p.l33,yott 

»  The  story  rads  here,  but  we  can  imagine  the  triumph  of  the  dull 
one  in  p<^ting  oat  the  impossibaity  of  getting  through  a  message 
from  Rome  to  Milan,  and  the  intelligent  one's  satisfaction  in  suggesting 
an  additional  but  inverted  dog. 


414  BXPOBITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


will  find  a  ease  in  point  There  I  wished  to  ilhietnto 
the  weakneae  of  the  n^Uve  not  as  against  the  positive 
suggestion  represented  by  a  noun  or  a  verb.  Turning 
my  thoughts  to  the  Latin  granunar  for  an  example  of 
two  terms  often  confused  with  each  other,  I  found  the 
words  turn  and  ne  had  arisen  in  my  mind.  They  were 
probably  suggested  by  the  fact  that  I  was  deaUng  with 
the  subject  of  negatives  at  the  time.  In  themselves 
they  form  quite  a  good  illustration,  but  as  soon  as  I 
reread  the  passage  I  saw  that  there  was  a  certain  con- 
ftudon  likely  to  arise  in  the  reader's  mind.  He  might 
very  naturally  think  that  the  Latm  negatives  a»  negor 
Uvea  had  something  to  do  with  the  general  subject  of 
the  paragraph,  any  other  book  I  would  at  once 
have  changed  Ihf  .ustration  to  some  other  two  terms, 
—  perhaps  scire  and  cognoscere,  —  but  an  example  of  an 
actual  blunder  in  illustration  in  the  vay  act  oi  treating 
of  illustration  was  too  useful  to  be  thrown  aside,  so  I 
let  the  blunder  stand  Further,  no  reference  was  made 
to  it  in  the  earlier  .apter,  in  order  to  give  the  reader 
i'ui  opportunity  of  testing  at  a  later  stage  whether  he 
could  rem^ber  any  slight  confusion  having  arisen  in 
his  mind  at  the  time. 

A  final  danger  of  the  use  of  certain  forms  of  illustra- 
tion is  said  to  be  the  tendency  it  has  to  make  the  pupils 
dependent  on  illustrations  for  their  actual  thinking. 
They  become  incapable,  it  is  said,  of  doing  any  thinking 
at  all  unless  suitable  iUustrations  are  supplied.  They 
never  trouble  to  deal  with  a  generalisation  till  it  is 
followed  by  illustrations.  But  it  is  surely  undesirable 
that  pupils  should  be  encouraged  to  accept  generalisa- 
tions without  examples,  and  sufficient  cautions  have 
been  already  given  against  allowing  the  pupil  to  adopt 


DANOERS  OF  ILLUSTRATION  415 


a  purely  paaiive  attitude  in  respect  of  illustrations. 
The  active  reaction  of  the  pupil  iing  secured,  he  will, 
of  necessity,  provide  certain  illustrations  of  his  own. 
Indeed,  the  supplying  of  fresh  illustrations  by  the  pupil 
is  one  of  the  best  wayi  of  his  eeottring  »  mastfliy  over 
the  illustrandum. 


C5HAPTER  XVII 


Thb  ToRPiDo  Shock 

In  Plato  we  find  Meno,  after  being  treated  on  the 
■ggnvfttiiig  Soerstic  method,  driven  to  oomplam:— 

"O  Soomtei,  I  wed  to  be  toM  before  I  knew  you  that  you  were 

always  doubting  yourself  and  making  others  doubt ;  and  now  you 
are  caiting  your  spells  over  me,  and  I  am  simply  getting  bewitched 
and  enehanted,  and  am  at  my  wits'  end.  And  if  I  may  venture  to 
make  a  jest  upon  you,  you  seem  to  me  both  in  your  appearance  and 
in  your  power  over  others  to  be  very  like  the  flat  torpedo  fish,  who 
torpifies  those  who  come  near  him  and  touch  him,  as  you  have  now 
torpified  me,  I  think.  For  my  soul  and  my  tongue  are  really  t«pid, 
and  I  do  not  know  how  to  answer  you."  * 

This  is  a  passage  that  touches  closely  all  of  us  who 
concern  ourselves  with  the  theory  of  method  in  teaching; 
for  there  is  a  certain  danger  that  in  setting  forth  more 
or  less  elaborate  theories  we  may  induce  a  mild  form 
of  intellectual  paralysis  in  the  teachers  whom  we  seek 
to  influence.  After  learning  the  numberless  possibili- 
ties of  going  wrong,  and  the  small  chance  of  hitting  upon 
the  absolutely  right  way  to  deal  with  any  particular 
case  that  arises,  the  student  of  method  may  not  un- 
naturally become  disr  t^raged.  There  are  not  lacking 
people  who  say  that  tc  acudy  method  is  to  acquire  know- 
ledge that  is  not  only  of  little  use,  but  is  positively 
noxious.  Their  attitude  reminds  me  of  the  indignant 
protest  of  an  old  college  acquaintance  of  mine,  a  medical 

>  M*no,  80,  A.  JoweU's  Ea^iaAi. 
416 


TBI  TORPBDO  SHOCK 


417 


Student,  who  bad  juit  coma  down  in  h»  anatemy: 
"What's  the  sense  in  knowing  every  mi»eraWe  nerve 
in  the  neck  ?   There's  Launceston  knows  'em  all,  and  is 
BO  nervous  he's  afraid  to  put  in  his  knife  in  ease  tw 
severs  some  of  'em.    I  don't  know  'em,  so  Vwt  •HI&- 
dence.   I  stick  in  my  knife,  and  th»a  ym  are."  It 
need  haidly  be  said  that  Lauuceston  wa^  nervous  by 
temperament,  and  not  because  he  was*  the  modalUst  in 
anatomy.   Real,  positive  knowledge  jtives  power  and 
confidence.   The  man  with  wide  and  accurate  know- 
ledge is  not  afrud  to  ^live  an  opiaioo  at  1  act^^pcm  tt, 
thou^  he  has  no  monopoly  of  this  courage.  ?T«»'erthe- 
less,  there  is  a  certain  danger  attending  the  .  study 
of  method.    All  the  positive  principles  mastered  are  of 
direct  service  in  practical  work,  and  your  hurriedly 
trained  person,  with  littte  theory  and  a  great  deal  of 
practice,  is  only  too  wiffing  to  W  down  the  law  and 
put  it  into  immediate  operation.   But  the  thoughtful 
student  who  looks  all  round  the  subject,  and  notes  this 
defect  and  the  other,  even  in  methods  that  are  on  the 
whole  excellent,  has  not  the  certainty  of  his  less  critical 
fellow.  The  man  of  eritldsm  is  always  less  eonideiit 
than  the       of  action.   It  is  important,  therefore,  that 
critical  study  shouki  be  accompanied  by  the  corrective 
of  vigorous  practice.   The  work  of  the  study  must  be 
b  o'l-'ht  to  fruition  in  the  class  room.   But  this  is  not 
quia  the  same  thing  as  to  say  that  the  student  is  to 
carry  his  theories  with  him  and  pamfuUy  apply  them 
by  a  conscious  effort  in  front  of  his  class.    I  have  seen 
a  man  fishing  in  a  pond  in  Buckinghamshire,  with  a  book 
by  his  side  with  the  alluring  title  "How  to  Angle." 
To  this  he  referred  when  mattew  baeaaw  crftlerf— bat 
he  oaui^t  so  fish. 

2a 


418  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 

In  the  stress  and  strain  of  the  class  room  the  teacher 
must  be  independent  of  the  book  of  method.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  a  great  deal  may  be  learnt  about  angling  in 
the  study,  but  the  riverside  is  not  the  place  to  continue 
the  study  as  study.  This  is  by  no  means  an  admission 
that  those  depressing  critics  are  ri^^t  who  wiMnffti^i 
that  in  education  theory  and  practice  cannot  be  harmo- 
nised. "  Theory  is  all  very  well  in  the  study,  but  when  a 
man  gets  before  a  class  — "  This  sort  of  sentence  is 
usually  left  unfinished,  which  is  a  pity.  It  would  be 
pleasant  to  have  a  frank  statemoit  of  the  acc^tance 
of  rule  of  thumb. 

As  a  matter  of  experience  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
combining  theory  and  practice,  but  the  combination 
cannot  be  made  in  the  mechanical  way  that  lends 
itself  to  easy  registration  in  an  educational  book.  The 
matter  was  put  epigrammatically,  but  with  a  different 
kind  of  truth  than  that  the  epigrammatist  intended  in 
the  complaint:  "So  far  as  I  can  gather,  students  of 
method  learn  laboriously  certain  principles  that  they 
forget  the  moment  they  are  face  to  face  with  a  class.'' 
For  the  outside  observer  this  is  a  suffieiratly  accurate 
description  of  what  takes  place;  but  the  inner  meaning 
of  the  change  of  attitude  is  apt  to  be  overlooked  by 
the  casual  person.  A  better  description  of  the  same 
phenom^on  would  be  to  say  that  the  moment  the 
student  of  method  gets  b^ore  a  class  he  loses  conscious- 
ness of  the  theoretical  principles  he  has  been  studying. 
It  does  not  follow  that  those  principle  have  lost  their 
influence.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  the  incidence  of  con- 
sciousness. Too  frequently  it  is  true  that  theoretical 
consideraticMis  do  obtrude  themsdves  on  the  oomMenr 
tbn  of  the  inrapeitokoed  teacher  when  he  shmild  be 


THE  TORPEDO  SHOCK 


419 


giving  himself  up  entirely  to  practice.  This  means  that 
he  has  not  mastered  his  principles,  and  therefore  is 
unable  to  forget  them  in  the  moment  of  application.  A 
man  who  has  been  trained  by  a  proper  combination  of 
theory  and  application  of  theory  gradually  acquires  the 
right  to  forget  all  about  theory  when  he  is  engaged  in 
practice.  His  theory  has  become  a  part  of  himself, 
and  affects  his  activities  even  when  he  is  not  at  all 
thinking  of  theory.  The  facts  of  theory  have  become 
the  faculty  of  practice. 

One  of  my  students  told  me  the  other  day  that  she  did 
not  believe  she  could  begin  a  sentence  with  the  word 
And,  even  if  she  were  writing  in  her  sleep,  so  thoroughly 
had  this  part  of  the  teaching  of  the  theory  of  compo- 
sition been  assimilated.  She  remember^  that  the 
teacher  had  given  hor  a  great  many  reasons  why  no 
sentmoe  diould  ever  b^;in  with  the  word, — reasons 
that  many  modem  authors  would  dismiss  with  scant 
ceremony, — but  these  she  could  rather  guess  at  than 
remember;  the  important  point  is  that  they  had  consoli- 
dated themselves  into  an  inveterate  rejeeticm  of  this 
conjunction  as  ^  first  word  in  a  smtenoe. 

This  little  chapter  is  added  mamly  to  reassure  readers 
who  may  be  disturbed  by  the  criticisms  that  have  been 
made  of  certain  illustrations  that  are  not  in  themselves 
very  bad,  but  are  not  so  good  as  they  might  be.  The 
reador  in  hk  mxxtotty  may  protest  that  he  will  be  only 
too  f^MSi  if  in  the  rcmi^-and-tumble  of  strenuous  teaching 
he  can  evolve  such  good  illustrations  as  are  held  up  as 
warnings  in  these  pages,  and  may  feel  a  little  uneasy 
lest  in  the  moment  of  action  some  memory  of  criticism 
may  arise  and  tor]^  Um.  ¥ratSL  this  pdnt  tA  view 
illiistnitioiis  must  be  legHded  as  of  two  distinct  Idndi: 


420  EXPOSITION  AND  ILLUSTRATION  IN  TEACHING 


thoie  that  are  i«epared  for  before  the  lesson,  and  those 

that  are  summoned  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  to  clear 
up  more  or  less  unexpected  points  as  they  arise.  For 
confused  or  careless  illustrations  of  the  first  class  there  is 
never  any  excuse;  but  for  those  of  the  second  class  there 
must  be  great  allowance  made.  Still,  the  more  practice 
the  teacher  has  in  preparing  good  illustrations  before  the 
lesson,  the  greater  his  power  of  improvising  illustrations 
that  do  not  break  any  of  the  principles  to  which  he  has 
given  his  assent.  In  teaching  we  mut  let  ourselves  go: 
the  practical  interests  of  the  moment  must  dominate 
everyt^g.  But,  after  all,  teaching  is  not  a  mechanical 
process.  We  do  not  nc».d  to  leave  our  minds  at  the  door 
of  the  class  room  as  the  Mohammedan  leaves  his  shoes 
on  the  mat  before  entering  the  mosque.  A  trained 
riietorician  addressing  a  public  assembly  does  not  think 
of  the  laws  of  rhetoric  as  he  makes  his  appeal.  But  he 
does  apply  them.  The  teacher  must  be  able  to  think 
on  his  feet;  must  be  capable  of  changing  an  illustration 
in  the  process  of  making  it;  and  must  all  the  while  de- 
pend upon  the  paid-up  capital  of  his  theorising  to  keep 
him  straight.  No  doubt  he  will  often  make  mistakes, 
and  will  wonder  afterwards  how,  knowing  what  he  did, 
he  could  have  made  this  blunder  and  that.  But  as  the 
result  of  his  studies  he  knows  that,  in  the  main,  he  is 
right.  Every  blunder  he  makes  gives  him  something 
to  emunderaftor  the  lesson.  But  it  is  to  be  used  in  warn- 
ing him  against  repetitions  of  this  error  and  its  like  and 
in  strengthening  his  grip  of  the  positive  principles  of  his 
art,  not  in  discouraging  him,  and  8i4>ping  his  confidence 
in  himself. 


Alwtrut,  i^aee  of  the*  in  ffluBtntkm, 
248;  intenetkm  wHh  concrete, 
280-281. 

AlMtnction  In  models,  320,  322. 

Accuracy,  excesis  of,  408. 

Advertising,  22  note,  360,  399. 

JBneid,  106, 138. 

.SstheUc  iUuatratiim,  21-22, 242, 309. 
Alexander,  ProfcHor  8.,  128,  886. 
Algebra,  184. 
Allen,  Qnmt,  192. 
Allen,  ProfeMor  J.  W.,  8. 
AljAaCmUoMri,  30e. 
Alphabetical  index,  253,  273. 
Analogy,  73,  90,  91;  matbematieal, 

230;  spreading  cf,  232. 
Analysis, the liutof,  64;  of  Mit«Mefi, 

201. 

Analytic  step,  147. 
Anderaoo,  Robert,  310,  379. 
Anticipation,  in  listening,  16;  by 

contraries,  16;   in  presentation, 

207  note. 

Anticipatory  illustration,  31,  32,  33. 
Aiqwreqption,  37;  massea,  71,  74. 
Ai^cation  step,  151-162. 
Ai^roaches,  kinds  of,  226. 
Ardiimedes,  118. 

Aims,  feeblMteai  in  estimating,  357 
ff.;  of  United  States,  364;  cultiva- 
tion of  sense  of,  376. 

Aristotle,  230,  234,  240. 

Arithmetie,  176,  281. 

Arithmetical  adiallenge,  250, 309, 332 ; 
(Iqr  impUeation),  402. 412. 

Annstrong,  ProfaiMNr  H.  EL,  84. 

Arnold,  Dr.,  272. 

Anwt,  71-74,  284. 

Arrows,  in  diagraina,  886,  388. 

Artists',  difficulties  in  iUustration, 
848-347;  carelessnefli,  842. 

Asduun,  Roger,  101,  257. 

Association,  systematic,  70,  72,  73; 
step  148;  divergent,  292,  402. 


Assumptiona  underiying  theory  of 
Formal  Steps,  145  IT. 

Attoidant  circumstances,  293. 
Attention,  110;  rhythm  of,  157;  bi- 
teoaity  of,  188;  incideaoa  of,  400; 
fixed  by  Unea^  88S. 
Audilee,  188. 

Author  and  artist,  rdailoas  al,  in 

illustration,  943  ff. 
Automatic,  view  of  mind,  117-118; 

levd,  163. 
Auto-suggeation,  120  ff. 
Awful  example,  220, 264. 

Baekgrounda:  esiotkmal,  02;  hai>- 
manlsing  at,  06;  demanta  of,  07; 
kinds  of:  fixed,  100;  uaatable, 
102;  mobile,  108;  to  aermoii^ 
103;  to  toettuw,  104;  temporary, 
107;  normal,  132;  preferential, 
138;  relation  to  angtiMtlnn,  136. 

Bacon,  23, 25. 

Baihy.  Philip  James,  405  note. 

Bain,  Pnrfeasor  A..  116  imIs. 

Balaclava  illustration,  409. 

Baldwin,  Ptof^r  Marie,  137. 

BaU,  «r  Robert,  307-808. 

Banutt,  P.  A.,  880. 

Bates,  Charles  Austin,  22  note. 

Beginning,  62, 105;  d«gfeea«rf,  170; 
problem  of,  178,  170;  detwnines 
order  at  preaantatioB,  188;  eoadl* 
tions  determining,  195;  tliinlrfin 
a,  378. 

BeU,  ttrCbailoa,  140. 

Bennett  and  Brirtol,  155  note. 

B^raaiar,  187. 

BfaMt  and  Hwiri,  884  nels. 

ttology,  taaaWng  <rf,  S3S. 

npolar  pwBBMW  and  teima,  10. 

Blaat^anaee  tsmpesnton,  801. 

BoHttquet,  PisfasM',  211. 

BotM^r,  laacfaing  of,  832. 


421 


422 


INDEX 


Bisekenbuiy,  L.,  188. 

Bndl^r,  F.  H.,  8»,  lie  imK,  380 

note. 

Brain-action,  theories  of,  88-90. 
British  Isles  and  British  Eknpire, 

position,  327;  trade  and  pqpoiar 

tion,369;372. 
Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  160. 
Bruce,  Robert  the,  06,  87. 
Bulloek,  J.  M.,  898^888. 
Bums,  281. 
Barton,  J.  807. 

CiBsar,  154,  321,  322. 
Calder,  Mr.  John,  387. 
Campe,  173  note,  176  not*. 
Carand' Ache,  381. 
Castellar,  Maurice,  140. 
Catalogue  elaboration,  287. 
Challenge,  arithmetical,  253,  300, 

337;  (by  implication),  402-403; 

412. 
Chapman,  18. 
Chesterfield,  250. 
Chesterton,  G.  K.,  8  note. 
Chromatists,  336. 

Circle,  in  diagrams,  874-376;  of 

thought,  170. 
Classification,  50-60. 
Clearly  imaged  ends,  176. 
Collier,  Hon.  John,  91,  199  note. 
Colour,  idea  of,  48;  in  diagram,  368 

of  shadows,  76,  246;  affected  by 

canvas,  91. 
Columns  in  diagrams,  371. 
Combination,  false,  209. 
Complex,  64,  98,  102,  108,  287; 

ready-made,  108. 
Complication,  73-74. 
Composition,  exercises  in,  299. 
Cnnpromise  in  education,  08. 
Concentration  beat,  150. 
Concc    ,  55  ft. 
Concrete,  interptetatlm  cS,  M5;  to 

abstract,  280. 
Confrontotkm,  70,  80,  81. 
Consciousness,  individual  and  general , 

38;  field  of,  67-68,  84;  distribu 

tion  of,  68;  stream  of,  68. 
Contencment,  202. 
Continents,  art^  of,  iUuatiated,  3W  S 
Continuum,  69,  07. 
Coatoraiatea,  218. 


Contradiction  and  reooneiliation,  78. 
Contrariant  characters,  132. 
Co-ordinate  planes,  333. 
Correlation,  excess  of,  27 ;  400. 
Correspondence  between  inner  and 

outer  world%  84. 
Coteries,  95. 

Coulevain,  Madame  de,  294-295,  407. 
Countries  of  Europe,  aise  of,  illus- 
trated, 360-361. 
Cramming,  213. 
Cross  purposes,  94. 
Cruikshank,  340. 
Cubic  content,  377. 
Cubic  mile,  311  ff. 

Deductive  methods  of  teaching,  ISO- 
IS?. 

Definition,  place  of,  58;  concrete 
form  of,  247 ;  wider  sense  of,  284. 

De  Garmo,  Charles,  147  note. 

Delaware,  area,  361. 

Demonstrate,  meaning  of,  3. 

De  Quincey,  6, 11,  242,  243,  244. 

Diagram,  undrawn,  245;  distin- 
guished '  -om  picture,  348;  of  the 
seasons,  327-328;  place  of,  in 
teaching,  355;  danger  of  pictorial 
element  in,  355  ff . ;  two  kinds  of, 
367;  colour  in,  888;  "ol  fihirtw- 
tion,"  367,  390. 

Diagrammatic,  352. 

Dialectic,  12  note;  Socratic,  276. 

Dickens,  Cbariea,  8  maH,  280-381; 
350. 

Diesterweg,  173  note. 
Diffusion  beat,  159. 
"Directions,"  208. 

EKscovery  distinguished  from  appei^ 

ception,  236. 
Docendum,  6  note,  11,  28. 
Doyle,  Sir  A.  Conao,  288-388. 

Drayton,  405. 

Drummond,  Professor  Henry,  230. 
Dimnottar  Castle  as  misleading  type, 
113. 

Dynamic  view  of  concept  and  inner 
w«Mrld,57. 


East  acd  west  as  ptrmaiwTrt 

ion,  138. 
£ast.<-m  reliefs,  351. 
Ed  «UiHi  by  deeeptkm,  in. 


423 


Elftbor»tioB,  M  wbool  exerdae,  276; 
pietorial,  377;  two  forma  of,  285- 
286;   by  eaUlogua^  3S7;  ttodsr 

limitations,  295. 
EUdting,  153. 
Eliot,  George,  398. 
SmiU,  257. 

^inotifuml  baekcroiiBd,  tr****,  98. 
Ending,  184  ff.;   m  twminaition, 
184. 

Enumeration,  289-291. 
Estimate  of  eubie  ooDtant,  377-378. 
Etttics,  268. 
Euclid,  333, 390. 
Euler's  TLeonm,  83, 164. 
Exaggerationaaaeeasary,  407. 
Example  and  p:  eoept,  268. 
Examples,  too  attntctfva^  306;  itere 

otyped,  393. 
Exceptions,  222-223. 
Excluded  middle,  40, 8d. 
Explanation,  5, 7, 8, 76;  aobwdtaftte, 

203. 

Expoaitandum,  11, 161. 

Exposition,  by  pupU  and  by  teacher, 
4;  data  of,  5;  faipidar,  9;  eaiMi- 
tially  isaaitteaettn,  60,  61,  68; 
destructivo  staga  ot,  62;  imit  of, 
64;  relatiT^  of,  160;  starting- 
point  of,  168;  pifMsibility  of  too 
good,  210-311 ;  dfatinguiahed  f rom 
illustration,  18,  267;  to  class  aa 
opposed  to  individuals,  338. 

'^ixpound,  meaning  of,  3. 

Fable,  need  for  detaila  in,  270;  truth 
in,  371. 

Faet  and  faeulty,  68,  lO,  410. 
Faota,  exi^aoatioB  and  Inteqmta- 

tion  of,  6-0;  organlaart,  161;  of 

co-ordinate  rank,  301. 
FaotiItlai^44ff. 
Fafejrtala^  373. 
Fakcmomfii,  Mi. 
Fatigue  diagram,  884. 
:  auat,  367. 

field  of  oonaeiouaiMi*  87, 88;  84. 
Finger-post  erltiei«n,  25, 36. 
Fixed  backgrounds,  100. 
Fluid  ndad^lOl. 
Focal  ideas,  67, 139. 
Fora^wumtnn.m. 
Votmd  UttfB,  U»  i.;  men  la 


apidieatlon  of,  1S2;  b 
leasona,  154. 
Frankland,  Dr.  Edwaid,  170 

331,332. 

French,  order  of  adjeethrea  fa),  190; 

auxiliary  verba,  898. 
Frith,  W.  P.,  347. 
Froehener,  M.,  218. 
Fuller,  Thomas,  23,  38. 
Fusion,  73,  74,  234. 

Qalton,  Francis,  279. 
Qi^big  Point,  163  ff.,  277. 
Ckunatt,  Dr.  WilUam,  130  note. 
Oeilde,  Sir  Aivhibald,  188. 
Generalisation,  36,  166,  199,  262, 

354;  step,  148-149. 
Qaognvty,  183;   oommneial,  183; 

text-book,  318. 
Gecmifltrjr.theiww,  184;  deaoriptive, 

838. 

German,  vocabqlaiy,  28;  poaasaaivaa, 

193;  ruleastot«dw,aaS. 
Qfebea,  the,  327. 
Qlyptio  fsnnuhe,  331-333. 
Qiammar,  teaching  of,  188. 
Orai^r,  Rev.  Jamea,  888. 
Orangerising,  396. 
Greek  education,  211. 
Growing  Point,  162. 
QuyFawkes,  338. 
Guyau,  J.  M.,  127. 

Hamilton,  Anthony,  180. 

Hamilton,  Clayton,  203. 

HamUton,  Sir  William,  40,  7a 

Ebirdewittes,  101. 

Harris,  Dr.  W.  T.,  I4a  tMte. 

Hartmann,  Dr.  Bartfaold,  96  Mlf. 

Hay,  Ian,  222. 

Hayricks,  painted,  337. 

Hayward,  Dr.  F.  H.,  318. 

Helvetius,  406. 

Herbart,  145,  146,  147. 

Herschel,  Sir  John,  329, 330, 331, 408. 

Heuristic  method,  32,  172, 178. 

HiU,  Burton,  397. 

History,  183;  under  different  pow- 
ers, 160;  text-book  in,  293,  204; 
pictures   in    teaching   of,  338; 
"  true"  pictures  in,  339. 
Hobbea,376;  oadH  nMni.  376. 
~   '  'i&.tl8. 


421 


INDEX 


Hohnann,  331. 
Homer,  251,  288. 
Homonyma,  123. 
Howatt,  Rev.  J.  R.,  389. 
Hugo,  Victor,  398. 

Hume,  48.  _  _» 

Huxley,  PraiMMr  T.  H.,  48,  77 
itettt, 

Hypoatub,  44, 46,40. 

loonographs,  139-140. 

Ideas,  40;  distinguished  from  facul- 
ties, 45;  as  matei^al  of  thought, 
48;  as  forces,  46-47;  interaction 
of,  47;  focal  and  marginal,  67; 
realisation  of,  72,  275;  complica- 
tion and  fusion  of,  73 ;  as  perma- 
nent potentialities,  84;  in  subcon- 
scious state,  87-89 ;  complexes  of, 
98;  oripmisation  of,  99;  breaking 
up  of  complexes  of,  169-170;  re- 
call of,  104;  ready-made  com- 
plexea  of,  90;  mediate  and  im- 
mediate recall  of,  119;  conditions 
of  recall  of,  122;  davdt^MBMit  in 
consciousness,  283. 

Idiefixe,99,  100. 

Identity,  principle  of,  39;  sense  of, 
69. 

lUustrandum,  19,  28,  30,  31^232,  235, 
241,  312,  320,  321,  327;  cognate 
with  illustration,  413;  mastery 
over,  415. 

Illustrate,  meaning  of,  18, 19. 

Illustration,  distinguished  from  ex- 
position, 18,  267;  in  a  circle,  27; 
as  a  sedative,  22;  anticipatory, 
31,  32;  twofold  claagification  of, 
229;  verbal  and  material,  317; 
teacher's  use  of  the  incidental  of, 
207;  classification  of,  310;  hand- 
to-mouth  method  of,  392;  over-, 
395;  misplaced  pictorial,  411; 
pupils  dependent  on,  414;  dia- 
grams of,  367,  387. 

Illustrations,  interstitial,  23;  di- 
dactic use  of,  242;  misleading, 
242;  stock  of,  393;  carried  over 
bodily,  408;  prepand  Mid  «ctem- 
pore,  419-420, 

Illustrative  enumeratfen,  38(^-391. 

Imacery,  vbual,  385. 

IiMiw.  ffff:  ■wmlind,fi& 


Immediate  recall,  110. 
Impressionability,  threahold  of,  300; 

sone  of,  303. 
Impressionists,  336. 
Incidence  of  external  Iwllwnw  to 

suggestion,  129. 
Incidental  references,  306, 307. 
Inductton,  32,  33. 

InductiY*  BMrtboda  ol  hwnhhn,  IM, 

157. 

Inference  point,  161,  162,  277. 
Information,  153,  292,  819. 
Inhibition,  71. 
Instruction,  153. 
Inter-aims,  173. 
Intercourse,  51. 

Interest,  rhythm  of,  186;  in  relation 
to  recapitulation,  226-227;  de- 
railing of,  400 ;  killing  of,  404,  407. 

Interstitial,  vision,  13;  illustrations, 
23. 

Introductions,  179. 
Isocrates,  244. 
Ivanhoe,  339,  344  note. 

Jacotot,  2,  3 ;  Jacototian,  370. 
James,  Professor  WiUMO,  15,  08^ 

103,  232,  233. 
Janet,  Professor  Pierre,  127. 
Joe  MiUers,  religious,  273. 
Johnson,  Dr.,  132,  407. 
Johnston,  F.  W.,  22  note. 

Xeatinge,  M.  W.,  129,  132. 
Key,  31  note. 

Knowledge,  reproduction  of,  50;  not 

yet  due,  153,  394. 
Knox,  John,  49. 

La  Fontaine,  257,  262,  263,  270. 

Lamb,  Charles,  237-238. 

Landois,  77  note. 

Language,  teacher's  use  of,  387. 

Latin,  genders,  27-28;  oratio  otii- 
fua  ir,  31 ;  order  of  teaching,  61 ; 
negatives,  133,  414;  method  of 
teaching,  157;  from  abstract  to 
concrete  in,  200;  grammars  and 
exceptions,  223;  Latin  Compara- 
tive, 229;  cum  with  subjunctive, 
392;  example*  in  giMUwr,  806. 

Law  stage,  55. 

Lawaof  TkmtM,  40, 7S. 


rnimx 


435 


Lftwaon,  William,  310. 
Leetures,  lantern,  23, 26. 
LMturing,  12. 
Leaaon-lengths,  173. 
LeuU,  Ferdinand,  174  not*. 
Liebig,  Baron,  20. 
IJatening,  analysis  of,  12  ff. 
Liverpool,  Lord,  269  note, 
Locke,  Jotin,  41  note,  85. 
Lodge,  Sir  Oliver,  207. 
Logic,  86,  260. 
Logical  preaenUtion,  187  ff. 
LusM,  S.  v.,  14,  iM«t. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  284. 
Macdougall,  W.,  10  note,  136,  137, 
388 

Macdowall,  K.  A.,  218. 

Macleod,  Norman  Islay,  980. 

Macturk,  John,  363. 

Magna  Charta,  201. 

Marshall,  Profeasor,  388. 

"Match  drawing,"  ass. 

Material,  319. 

Materialism,  88. 

Mathematics,  9,  61, 183. 

Mauolair,  Camille,' 337. 

Maxwell,  J.  Clerk,  368. 

Mediate  recall,  119. 

Meiklejohn,  Pro'ossor,  412. 

Meno,  368  note,  416. 

Mental  Mtivity,  116,  131. 

Umaai  oontent,  38,  41,  42,  61,  138, 
156;  Mialyaisof,  167;  overlap  of, 
168;  orguiiaation  of,  192;  com- 
mon segment  of,  225,  277;  limits 
of  organisation  of,  163,  411. 

Mental  focus,  158;  sliding  scale  of, 
160. 

Mental  harmony,  law  of,  76. 

Mental  imagery,  280-281. 

Mental  parallax,  113. 

Mental  pictures,  108,  111,  377;  «- 
temal  standard  of,  112. 

Metaphor,  130;  as  analogy,  231; 
conditions  of,  illustrative  ua?  of, 
232;  dangers  of,  234;  relation  to 
illustrandum,  235  ff. ;  cumulative 
effect  of,  238;  one-sided,  240. 

Method,  deductive  and  inductive, 
156-157;  Socratio,  80  ff.,  96,  172, 
174-178;  heurbtie.  33,  173,  173; 
dH^m  of  ttady  of ,  419  C 


Metric  system,  211. 

Metrical  diagrams,  367. 

Mill,  J.  S.,  19,  200. 

Million,  meaning  of,  298. 

Milton,  240,  403,  405. 

Minds,  kinds  of,  in  respect  of  back- 
grounds, 98;  rigid,  98;  fluid,  101; 
plastic,  103;  the  associative,  102. 

Minimum  auggeUible,  141. 

Ifistake-traps,  221. 

Mitchell,  Professor  W.,  131. 

MitchiU  and  Carpenter,  4  note,  306. 

Bfodel,  the,  317;  relation  to  real 
object,  319;  as  type,  323;  three 
dimensions  of,  324,  326,  330;  un- 
reality of,  325;  relation  to  senti- 
ments, 32o;  contrast  with  dia- 
gram, 328;  made  by  pupils,  334. 

Monet,  Claude,  336. 

Moral,  place  of  the,  367;  ehild'aview 
of  the,  270. 

Mot  propre,  189. 

Multiplication  through  addMo^  9. 
Murray,  Dr.  J.  A.  H.,  3M. 
Myen,  Dr.  C.  &,  S4». 

Narrative,  203. 
Nathan  the  prophet,  214,  215. 
Nebuchadnexsar's  furnace,  300. 
Newton,  Dr.  Richard,  254,  250. 
Niagara,  301,  304,  311. 
Nicholson,  Professor  H.  A.,  60. 
Non-contradiction,  law  of,  40i 
Norris,  Frank,  339. 
North,  Lord,  135. 
North  Camlinp,  are*  of,  360. 
Novelist**  onttdpotofy  iiiwMHi^ 
208. 

Nuna,  Dr.  T.  Vmv,  306^  219,»4,m 

Object  lessons,  64. 

Objective  standard  in  illustration, 

344. 
Objecte,  317. 

Observation  fcoqiMIMy  potygOM,  IM. 

Ohm,  120. 

Onions,  Oliver,  136. 

Order,  of  substantive  and  objective, 

190-101;  of  fgnm  oad  itaMia* 

♦km.  241. 
Order  of  presentatfcN^  dotnmined  by 

beginniag,  106;       fiMtiasl  ood- 


426 


OfDKZ 


Originality  la  iMtaras,  14. 

Omithoriiyndtuik 
Orrery,  328. 

Orthographic  story,  180. 
Osier,  Dr.  W.,  239,  240. 

ParadiM  Lot,  405  noM. 

Tmngrnph,  the  firat,  178;  iUuat»ttve 
of  bad  order,  205. 

Parallelism  betWMO  plqniiwl  «» 
mental,  89. 

Passive  poets,  341. 

Paterculus,  242,  244. 

Paulhan,  Fr.,  70,  71,  117. 

Pearson,  Professor  Karl,  384. 

Percentages  and  suggeatkiB,  187. 

Perspective,  8,  346,  350. 

Petit,  M.  Edouard,  340. 

Pictorial,  the,  306,  886;  diasram, 
complication  of,  356-357. 

Picture,  limits  imposed  by,  340;  two 
oonditions  of  use  of,  as  historical 
ittuatration,  339;  as  illustrating 
poatry,  841;  infidelity  of  Ittua- 
tmUve,  841  fr.;  in  textlwAa, 
847;  dhting"***^  ttom  diagram, 
848;  infonnativ*  aqiaet  of,  349- 
350;  in  adv«rtia«D«it,  850;  das- 
aifieation  of,  in  order  of  abstracts 
BMi,  889;  plaoa  at,  to  (aadiing, 
855. 

Pioturea,  mental,  277-280. 
Plastic  mind,  108. 
Plato,  250,  251,  253,  264,  418. 
Poe,  Edgar  AUan,  130,  241  nofa. 
Point  of  view,  1, 118. 
PolyoUnon,  405  iMfa. 
Portraits,  337. 
Preaching,  11. 

Preferred,  appmeqrtJoa  nutfa  (or 
background),  120, 123, 125;  aenae, 
the,  106-100;  ideaa,  68. 

Piematore  ecmeeptiiui.  214, 342. 

Prepvatlon  Step,  147, 167. 

PiesoiUtion,  145;  otder  of,  146; 
falsity  and  ineam|deteneH  of,  219 ; 
logical,  187  n.,  199;  preUmiuary 
TOndit^""  of,  IM;  bad  order  of, 
306. 

Pneentative  activity,  66-67,  74, 120. 
Preaentad  content,  65, 93. 
Mnuuy  eeloBi%  108;  pqraholo^eal, 
170. 


PlrtiMT  on  TtaeMng,  887. 
Problem%  18%  217. 
PromptlE«,  188. 
Peeudo-auto-suggestion,  129. 
"P^io  fringes,"  284. 
PVydmlogy,  86,  268;  of  Ustening.  13. 
Pupil,  as  tectmical  tens,  11. 
Pwpose  unit,  173. 

Qualitative  and  quantitative  num- 

ii«.385. 
Qootatlon  marlcs,  394. 

Ramsay,  Sir  W.,  318. 
Raven,  Rev.  J.  H.,  81. 
Reading,  14. 

Realising,  Ideas,  72,  275;  figure^ 

291;  sizes  and  numbers,  297. 
Reality  in  models,  325. 
Recall,  104;    conditions  of,  122; 

mediate  and  immediate,  113. 
Reconstruction,  214. 
Redintegration,  134. 
"Rderences  forward,"  207. 
Rebktive  sizes  of  countiiea  and  eotttt- 

nents,  350-304. 
Relativity,  in  exposition,  160;  in 
manipulating  vast  numbers,  309- 
311. 

Rennet,  Dr.  David,  213. 
Republic,  the,  250. 
Rhythm,  of  attention,  167;  in  teach- 
ing, 179;  of  interest,  186;  of  iJ^ 
■tract  and  concrete,  199. 
RIchter,  Jean  Pwil,  386  mtt;  388 

Richter,  Kari,  173  note. 
Riekerton  Medal,  176. 
Riddle,  240. 

Right  and  left,  confusion  of,  114. 

Rigid  minds,  98. 

Romanea.  Q.  J.,  349.     

RotiisdiOd,  Nathan,  367,  388,  370 

note. 

Rousseau,  257  ff.,  326. 

Rule,  and  exception,  223  ff.;  and 

example,  228. 
"Rulee,"  222,  282. 
Ruakin,  8,  296. 

Saving  pupils  trouble,  310. 
Scansion,  216. 

SIT. 


427 


Soott,  Sir  W.,  237, 330,  360. 
Beir-Mtivity,  130. 
Self-referent  tendency,  265. 
Sentences,  loose  and  periodie,  948. 
Shadows,  colour  of,  246. 
Shakespeare,  15, 36,  7S. 
Shelley,  15. 
Sidis,  Dr.,  132. 
Silhouettes,  Chinese,  140. 
Silvestre,  M.  .1.  B.,  130. 
"Simple"  and  "  easy  to  understand," 
108. 

Simplon  Tunnel,  182. 
Hiiua,  300. 

Socrates,  80,  250-251,  416. 
Soft  pedagogy,  212. 
Spencer,  Herbert,  76,  160,  180-100, 
106, 107, 108, 205, 314,340^  379. 

Spraehgefiihi,  44. 

Standard,  area,  315,  360;  for  differ- 
ent powers,  160;  map  of  West  of 
Old  World,  380. 

Starting-point  of  exposition,  167. 

Static  view  of  eaa«q|>k  aad  inner 
world,  57. 

Stephens,  Winifred,  204. 

Stevenson,  R.  L.,  271. 

Stirling,  Hutchison,  277,  278,  280. 

Story,  three  uses  of,  251;  the  in- 
vented, 271 ;  sources  of,  273. 

Stout,  Professor  Q.  F.,  42,  116,  128, 
284. 

Straight  lines  in  diagram,  353,  371, 
378. 

Stun,  Threshold  of,  301,  302,  303, 
304,  306,  a07,  818»  413;  uMag  of. 
305. 

Style,  teet  of,  7;  underlying,  ?6; 
philosophy  of,  180;  allusive,  403, 
405. 

Subconscious,    the,    85;  physical 

correlate  of,  87-^. 
Subjunctive,  222,  303. 
Sabatantive,  elements  of  thotight,  43, 

73,  125;  meaning,  123. 
Sufficient  reason,  law  of,  40. 
Suggestion,  external,  122;  Wundt's 

■ad  ThcMiua'a  definitions,  138; 

Bftldwin's  uul  Janet's  definitkms-, 

127;    auto-.  128;    foreign.  120; 

paeiido-auto-,  120;  unilatwsl,  133; 

relation    to    apperception.  134; 

permanent.  135,  159,  371;  moral 


Justification  of,  143;  as  an  end, 
143-144;  most  obvious  kind,  tM. 
Superlative  reierenees,  404. 
Superstition,  one  fiinaltai  ti,  79. 
Synthetic  step,  147. 

of,  AS;  tttap,  147, 14B. 


Tactiles,  100. 

Teaching,  six  principles  of,  lOft-107; 
criJcism  of  six  principles  of,  107 
B.  ;  by  text-books,  318;  deductive 
and  inductive  method!  tt,  1W> 
157;  to  class,  226. 

"Telling,"  153. 

Temptotion,  144,  256-257. 

Tennyson,  235,  288,  403-403. 

Theory  and  practice,  419. 

There/ore,  use  of,  165-160. 

"Thing  stage,"  44,  56. 

Thing-in-itseif,  53. 

Thinking,  atomistic.  15;  small  chang* 
type  of,  277;  pictorisi,  378-370. 

Thomas,  Professor  P.  E.,  137. 
"Thorough,"  150. 

Thought,  Itows  of,  30.  75;  swiftness 
of,  281. 

Threshold,  85;  of  Consciouanees.  86; 

of  Impressionability.  800-803;  ol 

Stun,  301-307,  412. 
Time-unit,  174. 

Transitive,  elements  of  thoughta,  43; 

meaning,  125. 
Trapp,  E.  Ch.,  171. 
Turbid  media,  01. 
Tyi>e,  the.  as  illustration.  247. 

Unoonacfeua  humour,  411. 

Unit,  time  and  purpose,  174;  size 

oi,  204 ;  general  twtnwnt  of,  204; 

highest  available,  818;  ■taadani, 

315-316,  360. 
United  StatM^  aiw  of,  88C 
Un.<ti,e6. 

UBKtbfo  boAgranadc,  108. 

Vacuum,  the,  in  exposition,  310  ff. 
Velaaques,  337. 
Veronese.  339, 
Virg'l,  105. 

Visicm,  interstitial.  13;  field  of,  14. 
Vteuala,  108. 
Vontettung.  278,  388. 


428 


INDEX 


WallM.  OnJuun,  8M-885. 
Walpole,  Horace,  284. 
Ward,  Dr.  Jame^  388. 
WMitaeM  fram  ov«M»mtottoii.  27, 

Wefaater,  dlctlonar>%  17,  249. 
Wella,  H.  0.,  301,  304. 
Whately,  130  note. 
WWtmM,  Walt,  287, 288, 346. 
WhitUer,  171. 
WI|^»t,Ideof,314. 
WltaMum,  Otto,  196. 
WHOMT,  LlghtMt,  171,  369. 


Witt,  Robert  Clennont,  348, 
Wolf,  Luclen,  270. 
Wordsworth,  99,  271. 
Worlds,  inner  and  outer,  61  tt. 
Wright,  Profeawr  Blarii,  12. 
Wundt,  128,  ia». 

Ziflangabe,  171  ff.,  175,  184,  20S. 
Ziller,  TuMllcon,   171,  174  note,  197 
note. 

Zone  of  impreMionability,  303. 
ZwiMkmtkk,  178, 176»  ISft. 


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